< ■ c 









r S ^'-^ -^s^ <cx<c:' Qcr'<i 



^ € 



^C ^ C5«L ^ c 






C <L 



^ ^^ ^ 

dice C30C^ 
d.CC .^KTr-^t 

d.cc c<:: 
c:cc <<r 

— :cc; c<^ 



CI c 

^ c 

>^ c 









5^ ■i^cccc '< r V 



«-<• *c:cc<<c 






d,,c 
c:i< c 



d d 



^ Cm 
Ci Cm 

<?:• cc. 
c<; c < 

CC CC 



c c c 

c c: c 

c c ^ 

CC < 

C C 

c c: I _ 

c c c CJ 



^ ■ CjJC: 'C O: 

c ' ■' c< c^ <c cr • ' 

<: ^ Cf c: <.cc<:. <csj 

' ^ • ^^ c . <-cc'r «cr^ ■ 

: vcc-r oo < 

^ ■:.<? -CI «CS ^" 

-. ■•c<i .idCZc ^• 
1, <-'C a <ssC-<:^( 

*• C=-^^ ' d fc^ .Ktr CC 

•■ C^lJ: <' d CC C;<f C C 

^ •( d c c Q^: c c 

C'C d ^^ ^^ c c 
.^-^ c <1_ c . .jisc <r c 



<:,_»> c 



CCv 



c ^_ 

li 

C C 



d'Cl «c c c 

' ^ < '■ -ttsC • c c 

.< ■<*C c.c 
: «c c c 
^■' 5 "d c: ■. c 



:;. c c <: f . 

C C '" 

c c . 

c c , ; 

c c ' 

c c :^c «: 

C C C!CC < 

. c C < iC < 

C C ; <C(^ 4r- 



: ■. dcd 
dc d 

' *!- d"^ <^ d ■ 

c 1 d^c c d 

: -r -dc c d 

■• dc c d 

dec d- 

dc c d 

d c c d: 
c c c d ( 

d C C d ' 
<S C C d 

<i c c <: 

<l c c r 
c c c 

<x c c 

ct c c 
«' c c « 
c<, c" c 



CC CC 



<c c 






r- c: -CSC'- <^ 

^ ^.^ -c- <: esc;-- ^ 

c: <r<r d <<c<3c (at 






1 C-cs*- '^ 
= tac* <:• <i "-^^^^ 






<: < < 






c c 

c c 

c c 

cc <c 

C C NatiC 

C c ; 

C c < 



d ac^ €z: <c 
s: S <^ ^^ 



■< ^t <:«^ 
' ^c c <£ 

< <rc c^r 

i^ C 

:cccc 

<^ '<rc c: <c 

<^ - <<Z<: c <r 

c <c<;c<c- 

: 'Ccc<r 

c dcx: 
C_ Cccc 



j^^._^^-^ 












<< c 



^. ^ c_t <■- <^ 

■^ "^S cc < c: 

■ c <:c\ cc <' d 

' c <«' cc <* -" 



^ V-, cc f ( < 

; d r .':( ^ 
• d" c < t • 
d^'<c- .. -^ ■ 

d-d"<;<* c: c '■■• 

: d_l.dc' <r <: 

d":.cc- d d 



^1 



Cccd 1 -;. ,> 

d^d ^ c . , r- 

CccC < <^ 

CccC ^ > 

dc < V 

<2 c < c 

<tcc . < ■ <r 

C^C riJ^c c d 
ccc :'• '<: c ^- d 

ccc <c ' d 

c'<: -i.dc t- . 



cc c 

cc c 



dl (4C 

<?£: CC 

^ cc 

^: cc 

<C C C 



:^c c 



•t -d 



d cc 
^- ■ ^ C 



_ c 

C C c 

;^^c c 

^ C C 

^d C 
^d 

s ^^^^ 

C cc <.4C d 

•^ ' <d cL ' 
c cc -^c^ <:•.. 



d d cc < c d 

<r c: cc< c <. 

" ^ Cd cc c ■ C ' 

; > -<:< Ccc c c c 
c 55 ^' ^ <^>^ 

^ .c c <r c < c ' c c 

^- d ^^ Cc.d H 

^"^^^^ c^ #^^-?<^ 

: :<< ' ^ cc >Vc%\Vc 
^ cr cc 

^^^ /^^^ -d-. c ■ c . 

:CC _c__<Txc d c: c ^ cc -^ 

*^^ ^:_j!Crcc'.d"d. c -^ ^ ^ 

^^< c <:::< d: c c 
~^^ c <-ic:<r d c 

:r d c 

pd c , 

-z"^ ^^^ -^^^ /d' d'c d>: 

?! ^J 1^^ " - '" 

d ' c ^ "C ^ ^ -^^ ^^ 



dC c d ' 
dec <.. 

dec .<r 

-d c c ^ 

dec < 

^c c ^ 

dec <!C 



<: 


<: d c 


d 


d^ d c 


d 


d c d c 


c: 


ecc d < 


d 


cjx^dc 


c: 


- ccc <^ < 


d 


- d^^ d c 


< 


^. dd c 


<: 


- d( d d 


d 


-CC^'dd^ 


d 


d dd\ 



m^ 



De. TIBER'S 
LECTURESJ 

ON 

EDUCATION. I 

7s. 6d. 



CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, 



IN A COURSE OF 



LECTURES, 



DELIVERED IN LONDON, IN SPRING 1829. 



By E 



.' BIBER, Ph.Di 



jQ " O, they have lived long in the alms baslcet of words !" 

\n* / fft/ Shakspeark. 



"":5»' 



\ 






LONDON: 
EFFINGHAM WILSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE. 



1830. 

It 






LONDON: 

SHACKELL AND BAYLIS, JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET-STREET, 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The following Lectures having been delivered ex tem- 
pore, and written out afterwards from a few notes, taken by 
a friend at the time, it will not be expected, that this volume 
should contain anything like an exact report of what was 
then said. The leading ideas, however, have been pre- 
served, and no topic of importance has been omitted. 

The writer, though an alien by birth and by law, belongs 
more to this nation than any other, by his sentiments and 
his aftections, which may serve as his apology for speaking 
of this country as if it were his own ; and for censuring, 
without reserve, what he has found in it worthy of blame ; 
a freedom which, had his feelings been those of a foreigner, 
he would have avoided, as unbecoming and invidious. 

In vindication of his principles, he has notliing to say ; 
hoping that the Spirit of Truth will vindicate them in 
every candid mind ; in which hope, if he should be de- 
ceived, he is willing that his views should stand con- 
demned. 



IV 



He has but one request to make ; which is, that those 
who find these pages worthy of their attention, will not 
judge of the contents upon a partial perusal. Man's mind 
and his language, like the prism, divides the light on its 
passage, and reflects it, not in one splendid ray, but in 
a succession of shades and colours, none of which deserves, 
for itself, to be called light, though, when reunited, they 
reconstitute the ray, from which they received their birth. 



CONTENTS. 



LECTURE I. 

WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE FAMILY, AND OF 
SOCIETY AT LARGE, RESPECTING THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 
BELONGING TO THEM ? 

Page 

Intr3(luction. 

Unpopularity of the Subject 1 

Different grounds on which the Subject may be viewed 3 

The Social Ground examined 4 

History of Education. 

The Oriental Nations 5 

Ancient Greece 7 

Ancient Rome 10 

The Jewish Theocracy 12 

The Primitive Christian Church 13 

Church and State 14 

Church and Priesthood 15 

Monachism and Chivalry 16 

The Reformation 17. 

The Improvements of the present Age. 

Germany , ib. 

France .. 18 

England 19 

Advanced Civilization of England 20 

The Duty of Society to Educate its Children demonstrated. 

The Claims of Society 21 

The Duties of Society 22 

Consequences of neglecting them ib. 

Facts proving the neglect 23 

LECTURE II. 

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT. 

Christian View of the Subject 25 

Modem Improvements 27 



VI CONTENTS. 

1 ■ Page 

Assumed Rights of Society 28 

All Rights derived from Duties 29 

False View of Education 20 

Error in Divinity 31 

Institution of the Parental State 32 

Its Merciful Purpose i^- 

Our Father in Heaven 34 

Education made a Curse ib. 

How to be made a Blessing 36 

The respective Duties of the Family and of Society determined. 

Duties of the Family 37 

Who are the Fatherless ? c 38 

Selfishness of Parents 39 

Children left to Servants , 40 

Domestic Slavery • • 41 

National Spread of the Evil 43 

The Cause of Education hopeless 44 

Pecuniary Means ib . 

Pauperism • 45 

Police. Prisons 46 

Every Man must subsist 47 

Our Laws Anti-Christian ib. 

What Education Society gives, at present, to the Children of the Lowest 
Classes. 

Case of a Destitute Child 49 

His first Crime 51 

His first Experience of Human Justice 52 

Efl:ect which it has upon his Mind 53 

Continuance of his Career 54 

His Repentance unavailing .,. , 55 

Influence of Prisons . 56 

Mmrder in Legal Forms • 57 

Unlawfulness of Capital Punishment 58 

Humanity of the Jewish Law ib. 

Severity of the English Law 59 

LECTURE III. 

TO WHAT SORT AND DEGREE OF EDUCATION CAN EVERY HUMAN 
INDIVIDUAL, AS SUCH, LAY CLAIM, INDEPENDENTLY OF RANK, 
FORTUNE, OR ANY OTHER DISTINCTION? 

The great Principle of Christian Education. 

Doctrinal Obstruction of the Truth 61 

Compromise Unlawful G2 



CONTENTS. Vll 



Compromise no Charity 63 

Tlie Light that lighteth every Man 65 

To be understood literally 66 

No Education without this Principle 67 

God's Purpose universal ■ 68 

The Means to it universally granted 69 

Rule of Education, laid down by Christ 70 

What it is to receive a Child in his Name 71 

Education a Service of Christ 72 

The true Object of Christian Education. 

Consequences of the above Principle 73 

The end of Education not Temporal 74 

AU Things to be referred to one Purpose 75 

Every finite Purpose to be abandoned 76 

The present Tendency of Society 77 

Reaction which it must produce 78 

The Child to be fitted for a better Age ib. 

Psychology, or the Science of the Human Soul 80 

Present State of this Science 81 

H)rpothesis and Truth ib. 

Opposite Extremes of Error 83 

Revelation and Human Science 84 

History of the Human Soul ib. 

Present State of the Human Soul 86 

The Principles of Psychology revealed 87 

The Faculties and the Moving Powers 88 

Central Point of all the Faculties 89 

Departure of Man firom that Centre 90 

Man not made for the Earth 91 

The Earth made for Man 92 

In this all Men equal , 93 

LECTURE IV. 

HOW FAR IS THE EDUCATION OF A CHILD TO BE REGULATED AC- 
CORDING TO HIS NATURAL CAPACITIES, AND HOW FAR MUST 
EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES BE PERMITTED TO AFFECT IT ? 

Premises on which the Question is to be answered. 

Prevailing Views of this Subject 94 

Man has no Right to Knowledge 96 

Duty of Man to acquire Knowledge ib. 

Genius an Election 97 

Regard to Circumstances in Education 99 

Man has no absolute Right to Possess 100 

National Tendency for Wealth 102 

Regard to the Mental Faculties 103 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



Regard to the future Sphere of Action 104 

What Distinctions ought to obtain 105 

Some of the Phenomena of the Human Mind examined. 

Classification of the Faculties 106 

Physical and Moral Education connected 1 07 

Feeling and Intellect 108 

Importance of the First Development 109 

Second Stage of Education 110 

Mental and Moral Freedom Ill 

Logic not a Guide to Truth 112 

Delusive Tendency of its Formalism 113 

Metaphysical Inquiries unpopular , 114 

Their Vagueness accounted for 115 

Dualism in our Feelings and Ideas 116 

Their Inconsistency and Uncertainty 117 

Examination of our Faculties resumed 118 

Divine Presence in the Soul 119 

Made manifest through Jesus Christ 1 20 

The Mind considered in its Relation to the World. 

The Faculties and their Objects 121 

Their Relation to each other 122 

Not to be understood without Faith '. ib. 

Faith the Expositor of Facts 124 

Corresponding Elements of Things 125 

How to be discovered 126 

Their Simplicity 127 

Exemplified in the Nature of Number ib. 

Elements of all Number 129 

Analysis of Human Nature 130 

Its Correspondence with the Universe 131 

LECTURE V. 

WHAT ARE THE CHIEF OBSTACLES TO A MORE GENERAL EDUCATION 
OF THE POOR, AND WHAT ARE THE LEADING ERRORS COMMITTED 

IN THIS GREATEST OF ALL CHARITIES AS FAR AS IT EXTENDS AT 
PRESENT. 

Deplorable State of Education of the Poorer Classes. 

Obstacles to Improvement 132 

Immorality of the Lower Orders 133 

Caused by that of the Higher Classes 134 

Wandering Life of our Poor 136 

Bad Influences upon their Children 137 

Charity Boarding Schools proposed 138 

The Expense would repay itself 139 

Moral Difficulties of the Plan 140 



CONTE^TTS. IX 

Page 

Public Ignorance on Education 141 

Proved by Facts , ib. 

Necessity of exposing it 143 

Examination of the different Systems. 

Old-fashioned Charity Schools 144 

The National and the British Systems 146 

Their Desecration of the Scriptures 147 

Particularly dangerous in our Age 148 

Pious Simplicity of former Ages ib. 

The Forms of Religion changeable 1 49 

The Attachment to Forms carnal 151 

Sectarian Instruction ib. 

Human Summaries of Religion 152 

Revelation essentially Unsystematic 154 

The Catechism in National Schools 155 

DiiSculty of Church Education 156 

Servile Manners in National Schools 157 

Enforced by fllercenary Motives 158 

A National School visited ib. 

They have tlieir Reward 1 60 

The Knowledge of God for Mammon's sake 161 

Intelligence in National Schools 1 62 

Public Examination before the Bishops 163 

Another National School visited . . 164 

A Lancasterian School visited 165 

The Levers of the British System = 166 

Emulation aided by Rewards 167 

Lancasterian Popery - 168 

Obvious Effects of the System 169 

A few Queries to the Candid 170 

Common Pleas for bad Systems ib. 

The Infant System 172 

Its Original Purpose 173 

Almost universally lost sight of ib. 

Systematic Nonsense 175 

Getting up an Infant School ib. 

Catching the System 177 

LECTURE VI. 

WHAT ARE THK CHIEF ERRORS COMMITTED IN THE EDUCATION OF 
THE WEALTHIER CLASSES, AND BT WHAT MEANS CAN THE EDUCA- 
TION OF BOTH POOR AND RICH BE MADE TO PRODUCE, IN THE 
COURSE OF TIME, A MORE HARMONIOUS STATE OF SOCIETY ? 

The Education of the Wealthier Classes more attended to, but not less 

corrupt, than that of the Poor 179 



X CONTENTS, 

Page 

Money rules over Principle 180 

Schoolmasters the Slaves of Parents • 181 

Ambition a Sanctioned Principle 182 

Its true Nature examined 183 

The Career of Honour , 184 

The Nature and Consequences of Party Spirit. 

British Freedom of Opinion' ] 85 

The true Standard obliterated 186 

Traditions of the Elders _ ib. 

Cant-toleration ,.,.. c 187 

Pqlitical Intolerance Anti-christian 189 

Error not to be Tolerated : 190 

The Erring not to be Persecuted ib. 

Concessions of genuine Charity 191 

Intolerance should begin at Home 192 

ReUgion swallowed up by Sectarianism 194 

The Want of Reform universally felt 1 95 

Retrospect of past Reforms ib. 

Education the Forerunner of a New Day , 196 

The impending Reform an universal one 197 

Unfitness of the present Generation 199 

Other corrupt Social Principles influencing the Education of the 
Wealthier Classes. 

The Hazelwood Religion 200 

Manufactured to Order 201 

A mere Phylactery 202 

The London University 203 

"What it ought not to have left undone 204 

Has Man a Right to Legislate ? 205 

No Christian State in all Christendom 206 

Schoolboy Parliaments and Law Courts 207 

Judge not, that ye be not Judged 208 

The Duty of Society towards Offenders 209 

Legal Falsehood 210 

Prevalence of an Hireling Spirit 211 

The Power of Knowledge not believed in 212 

DifSculties of a Practical Experiment ib. 

The Means of producing, by Education, a more harmonious State of 

Society ; ivith particular reference to the Subject of Instruction . 213 

Classification of Knowledge - , , 214 

Number and Music 215 

Form and Drawing 216 

Purpose of this Instructioh ib. 

Parental Short-sightedness 218 

Outward Nature 219 

Astronomy ib. 



CONTENTS. XI 



Geography ; 220 

Anthropology 221 

Zoology ib. 

Botany , 222 

Mineralogy ib. 

Art and Industry 223 

Moral Science ib. 

Language and History 224 

Their Universal Importance 225 

Religion 226 

LECTURE VII. 

HOW FAR HAS CHRISTIANITY HITHERTO BEEN ALLOWED TO INFLU- 
ENCE EDUCATION, AND BY WHAT 3IEANS ARE THE DIFFICULTIES, 
ARISING FR03I OUTWARD DISTINCTIONS ASIONG CHRISTIANS, TO 
BE OBVIATED IN IT ? 

Present Unchristian State of Education. 

Distinctions of Rank in Education 227 

Partiality of our Feelings 229 

Spirit of Castes 230 

Industry Schools , ib. 

Causes of the Separation of Classes 233 

Mixture of Classes abroad 234 

The Moral Feelings 235 

Intellectual Religion ib. 

Fashion in Low Life 236 

Unchristian Character of Religious Instruction. 

Religious Delusion of our Age 238 

Real and Imaginary Regeneration 239 

Selfish Godliness 240 

False Sanctification ib. 

True Regeneration 242 

Modern Pharisaism a National Evil 243 

Mythology and Religion 244 

Our Christianity yet Carnal 245 

The Divine Pattern of Education , 246 

Earliest Dispensations 247 

The Law 248 

The Prophets 249 

Jesus Christ and his Apostles 250 

The Divine Plan of Education Practical 251 

How to be Imitated 252 

Internal Evidences brought to Light 253 



Xn CONTENTS. 

Page 

Scripture to be explained by Life 254 

Christ within, the true Foundation 255 

Christian Tahnud 256 

Lack of HumiUty 257 

Mr. GaWs Sabbath School System ib. 

Doctrines in Rhyme 258 

The Assembly's Catechism 260 

Compendious Systems of Divinity 261 

Infinite Truth and Human Narrowness 262 

The Scriptures not the End but a Means 263 

" Ye Search the Scriptures" ib. 

God not the Originator of Evil , 265 

" God made the Wicked for the Day of Evil." 266 

The Man of Dust and the Breath of Life 267 

Natural and Spiritual Death 268 

Doctrine-mongers 269 

What is Martyrdom now ? > 270 

Understanding Doctrines 271 

Goldfinch Divinity 272 

The Child's Heart the true Catechism , 273 

Words for Words, but no Meaning 274 

Questions for Deadening the Mind ib. 

Conversion Healthy or Sickly • • • • 276 

The Child never without God 277 

Profaneness of Unmeaning Prayer 278 

Prayer by Compulsion 279 

Secret and Social Prayer 280 

Religious Opportunities ib. 

Praying made easy 281 

Complete Doctrinal Prayers 283 

Contrition and Dogmatism 284 

GaU «. GaU 285 

Conclusion. 

Educate in Spirit and in Truth 286 

Prepare the Way of the Lord 287 



LECTURE I. 



WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE FAMILY 
AND OF SOCIETY AT LARGE, RESPECTING THE EDUCA- 
TION OF CHILDREN BELONGING TO THEM ? 

It is now more than two thousand years since Plato, 
the profoundest of all the philosophers of the pagan 
world, when propounding, in his Work on the Republic, 
the ideas which he entertained concerning education, ex- 
pressed at the same time his apprehension lest his views 
might be considered as a mere theory, without practical 
usefulness, and therefore of questionable value. The 
mode of education, he observes, which he had to pro- 
pose, would clash too much with the prevailing prejudices 
of his fellow citizens, for him to expect that they could 
impartially examine his principles, or consider the results 
he anticipated from them as any thing but pious wishes. 
The same difficulties under which Plato found himself 
then labouring, are, I apprehend, still remaining in the 
way of those who have to propose a mode of education 
different from that which the opinion of the age has 
sanctioned. The natural antipathy of human nature 
against principles is undiminished, and mankind at large 
are still as blind as they ever were, to all but visible facts 
displayed before their eyes. Of this I am perfectly 
aware; but, so far from deterring me, it operates rather 



a UNPOPULAllITY OF THE SUBJECT. 

as an additional reason for me to persist in advocating those 
principles, however abstract, the application of which to 
the education of the rising generation I conceive to 
be the only remedy for those evils under which we are 
labouring. Not t^at I expect that those principles will 
rapidly gain groupd with the public at large, or be car- 
ried generally int0 effect ; I freely own, that I do not 
hope myself, to see them applied to the education of the 
mass of the people, or even partially, to any considerable 
extent, in my life time. But this does not form an ob- 
jection to those principles in themselves ; for the slightest 
glance over the history of mankind will convince us, 
that none of those ideas by which pur species has been 
essentially and lastingly benefitted, were ever reduced to 
practice, or even acknowledged as practicable, at the time 
when they were proclaimed. Nor do I perceive in this 
any inducement to desist from advocating such principles, 
or urging them upon the public. The task may be an 
ungrateful one, but it is no less binding, no less sacred. 
No generation of men ever knew, or were able to under- 
stand, their own wants ; they pined under the evils 
which their own folly, or that, perhaps, of their fore- 
fathers, had entailed upon them; but to the cure they 
were always blind; so much so, that the greater the 
evil, the greater has invariably their blindness been. 
If these remarks hold good concerning the history of past 
ages, certainly they are still more applicable to the state 
of things in our own time. Never, perhaps, at any for- 
mer period of the history of mankind was the want of 
improvement, and the wish for it, more generally felt and 
expressed ; and never perhaps was the darkness so great 
respecting the principles, from the active operation of 
which that improvement was to be expected. And never 
was it more necessary that those principles should be 
loudly and boldly proclaimed ; for, in addition to all the 
other evils, under which we are suffering, a spirit of 
compromise has gone abroad, which bids fair to mar the 



ox WHAT GROUNDS IT MAY BE VIEWED, «5 

exertions, even of those whose hearts and minds are not 
shut to the claims which the state of the mass at large, 
makes upon the energies of the more enlightened. The 
evils, of which we complain, are such as require a radi- 
cal cure, — I do not use the word radical here in its 
obnoxious sense — and a radical cure is of all things that 
which human nature most dreads and resists. Hence it 
is that, in our days, many of those whose attention and 
endeavours are directed towards the means of amelio- 
rating the condition of their fellow creatures, allow them- 
selves to be betrayed, by a well meant but mistaken 
anxiety to gain the concurrence of the public in the mea- 
sures proposed by them, into a compromise of the very 
principles which they advocate, and upon which they 
pretend to act. They clog their own power by an al- 
liance, both unlawful and impolitic, with the very pre- 
judices against which they are making war, and thus of 
necessity defeat their own end. Deeply impressed as I 
am with the baneful consequences of that mistake, I feel 
it my duty, more than ever, to state, without any dis- 
guise, and without any attempt at conformity with the 
leading opinions of the day, those principles, however 
unpopular, by which the education of our youth ought 
to be guided and regulated This I shall do on the pre- 
sent occasion ; and I thought it right openly to avow this 
my intention, in order that you may not feel disappointed 
if you find me, as you certainly will do, now and then, 
travelling far away — not I trust from the nature of 
things, but from the state of things as it is at present. 

After this short introduction, I shall at once proceed to 
the first of the questions proposed, viz. " What are the 
" rights and duties of the family, and of society at 
" large, respecting the education of children belonging to 
" them." This question can be answered on two grounds : 
first, as a matter of mere policy, according to the dictates, 
as it is called, of human reason ; and, secondly, in a 
religious point of view. For the present, I shall confine 

B 2 



4 THE SOCIAL GROUND EXAMINED. 

myself to the former inquiry, reserving the latter for 
another opportunity. 

The premises which we have to go upon, when endea- 
vouring to determine, on social grounds, the respective 
rights and duties of the community, and of the family, 
concerning the education of their children, are simply the 
two facts, that society exists, and that children are bom 
and must necessarily grow up in it. From these premises, 
which men have endeavoured to modify, but which they 
could never entirely do away with, all the inquiries made 
into this subject have begun, and a variety of theoretical 
schemes and practical systems have successively been 
built upon them. In two opposite 'directions the very 
extremes have been reached, the one at the earliest, the 
other at the latest period of philosophy ; and I do not think 
that there is any intermediate shade between those ex- 
tremes which has not been propounded in theory, or 
attempted in practice, at some time and in some nation. 
The maxim, that the child belonged to society, and was to 
be educated for it, was carried to such an extent by Plato, 
that, in entire disregard of the strongest and the most sacred 
feelings of the human bosom, he proposed the separation 
of the infant from the mother at the very instant of 
birth ; and although he claimed the services of the mother 
in nursing, yet his arrangements were such as to prevent, 
as far as possible, her discerning her own offspring, in 
the number of children, amongst which it was placed : 
so that if perchance she should happen to nurse her own 
infant, she should do so without knowing it to be hers. 
Whilst in this manner Plato claimed the child entirely 
and exclusively for society, Rousseau fell into the other 
extreme, to educate man entirely and exclusively for 
himself. The endless variety of systems, holding the 
middle between those two extremes, that have either been 
practically tried, or at least set forth in theory, I shall not 
undertake to enumerate ; but I think it will not be incon- 
gruous with our present purpose, to take a short review 



HISTORY OF EDUCATION. 5 

of the state of education, as it was at different periods 
among the principal nations of the civilized world; in 
order to see, what share society has in every instance 
taken in the accomplishment of so important a task. 

If we go to the cradle of pagan civilization, and to the 
first establishment of social institutions, to the oriental 
states of Hindostan, China, Persia, and their less con- 
spicuous neighbours, including all the nations celebrated in 
antiquity, which had their abode to the East of the Tigris, 
as well as Egypt, which, previously to the Greek influence 
upon it, belonged to the same class, — we find that educa- 
tion, like every thing else, bore there not a progressive, but 
a stationary character. Their religious systems were a sort 
of petrifaction of those spiritual truths, of which mankind 
have been put in possession by a primitive revelation, but the 
nature of which was greatly perverted in the course of 
tradition. Incapable of seeing them in spirit and in truth, 
the inhabitants of the South of Asia incorporated them, as 
it were, in their view of visible nature, by whose grandeur 
and beauty, as displayed in those countries, not their senses 
only, but their minds also had been led captive. Having thus 
fallen under the bondage of the earth, the genius of those 
nations became essentially earthy ; their social institutions 
accordingly were entirely modelled upon the distinctions 
produced between different classes of men in consequence 
of the peculiar manner in which every one of them was 
brought in contact with that outward world, which, to 
them, was the comprehension of the universe. The cha- 
racter of man and his social existence depended not upon 
the intellectual and moral elements of his being, but upon 
the sort of intercourse, as it were, which existed between 
him and nature, of whom all were equally the slaves. 

Hence the division in castes, according to the different 
employments and trades which the imperious call of ne- 
cessity created at the first origin of society ; and hence 
an education, which had no other object than to make 



6 



THE ORIEXTAL NATIONS. 



man, whatever the constitution of his inward nature might 
be, outwardly a fit member of that caste in which he was 
bom,— an education, which employed for the attainment 
of that object, no other means but those which that same 
caste afforded. To this national and individual thraldom, 
we must attribute the moral barrenness of the long aged 
records of those superannuated states of the eastern world, 
and the never ceasing circle of sameness, in which their 
national life has been revolving, wherever it was not 
interrupted by foreign invasions, from the earliest dawn of 
civilization, down to the present day, without any other 
change than the inevitable one of slow decrepitude. 

Of the genius of those mercantile tribes, which extended 
themselves from the shores of the Persian Gulf over the 
plains of the Euphrates, and froro thence to the eastern 
coasts of the Mediterranean, and the north-west border 
of Africa, but little is known. The philosopher can no 
more trace the effects of their civilization in the moral 
history of mankind, than the traveller can discover the 
remains of their splendid structures in the sands which 
have covered their dwelling-places ; and from this fact, as 
well as from the mean and short-sighted spirit of their 
nobility, so often exhibited in the records of their political 
history, the inference is, I think, neither rash nor pre- 
sumptuous, that their education, calculated only for the 
temporary purposes of gain, though it may have rendered 
subservient to those purposes some of the mental powers of 
man, yet had never a direct bearing upon the develop- 
ment and cultivation of his immortal nature ; nor, on the 
other hand, any public tendency, but inasmuch as ambi- 
tion, and the love of admiration may have given an addi- 
tional stimulus to the spirit of trade, in communities 
in which wealth was the chief qualification for the posses- 
sion of power. 

A brighter prospect, however, opens before us, when 
we come farther west and north, to the shores of Greece, 



ANCIKKT GRliECE. ' 

whose cheerful and lively population, immortalized in the 
annals of human history, forms the connecting link between 
oriental and occidental civilization. The views which the 
Greeks took of education, the systems which they intro- 
duced in their diiferent republics, although inapplicable 
to a state of society formed under the influence of divine 
revelation, nevertheless still possess a high interest for 
us, inasmuch as they exhibit the most perfect patterns of 
education, which the pagan world has ever produced, and 
probably could ever produce, destitute as it was of the 
light of religion. The principle on which Greek educa- 
tion was founded, was that of the most absolute freedom 
of individual development, which the community pro- 
moted by affording ample opportunities and encourage- 
ment, rather than by making any authoritative provisions. 
It is true, that by the institutions of Sparta, that free- 
dom was greatly limited, if not entirely annihilated ; 
the child being at an early period of life separated from 
those to whom he was attached by natural ties, and 
brought under a system of discipline, calculated to render 
him both an obedient instrument and a faithful represen- 
tative, of that proud and independent spirit, which Ly- 
curgus designed should be the Spartan character. But 
it must not be forgotten, that Sparta forms rather an 
exception to the general character of the Greek republics ; 
and that Athens, as it gave, intellectually and morally, 
the tone to all Greece, so it is likewise the best in- 
stance to be adduced for exemplifying the spirit 
of Greek education. In the investigation of this 
subject, I am aware that a distinction ought to be made 
between the education of those who were destined for 
the service of the oracles and other temples, and 
the preparation which the greater number of the free-born 
youths underwent to be fitted for the pursuits of public 
life. The former deserves but little consideration, as it 
was confined to very partial and limited objects ; for al- 



8 ANCIENT GREECE. 

though a superstitious deference was generally paid to 
some of the religious observances, and particularly to the 
decisions of oracles, yet this deference was not what can 
be properly called religious feeling ; it seems rather to have 
been analogous to the superstitious credulity which we 
often met with, even in enlightened persons, concerning 
matters in which they would scorn to profess a serious 
belief. It admits of great doubt, whether at any period 
of Greek history, the tales of mythology were considered 
by the enlightened part of the nation any better than as 
pleasing fictions ; indeed it is hardly to be conceived that a 
system of religion, in which all the supposed deities were 
purely the creatures of man's imagination, should ever 
have been more than a matter of poetical taste. This view 
of the subject is confirmed by the fact, that public educa- 
tion Avas carried on in Greece, quite independently of 
the priesthood. In consistency with the principles on 
which the whole frame of society was constituted in 
Greece, we find the education of their youths, as I ob- 
served before, founded on the basis of perfect individual 
liberty. A free career was opened to every child for the 
unfolding of his powers in such a direction, and to such an 
extent, as was most agreeable to the peculiar organization 
of his mind. To render those powers independent of the 
leading-strings of the pedagogue was the first object which 
the Greek teacher aimed at ; instead of endeavouring to 
keep his pupils under a pedantic bondage, as is the case 
among us, he exerted himself to emancipate them as early 
as possible. This was the object of the mathematical in- 
struction of the Greek schools, which, very different from 
that of our colleges and schools, consisted not in learning 
by rote a prescribed set of problems and solutions, but in 
an independent solution on the part of the pupil of such 
problems as the teacher conceived to be most adapted to 
his capacities, and the peculiar turn of his mind. To this 
instruction is that acuteness and penetration to be attri- 



ANCIENT GREECE. 9 

buted, which, when abused for mean and selfish purposes, 
degenerated into cunning, and made the Greek name, in 
that respect, a by-word among the nations ; but when 
applied to the investigation of truth, led to those sublime 
theories, to which, although apprised of their errors by 
the superior light of revelation, we cannot refuse to pay the 
tribute of profound admiration. 

While such judicious care was bestowed upon the de- 
velopment of the intellect, still more powerful levers were 
applied to the moral feelings. The study of the fine arfs, 
and especially of poetry, whose harmonious notes re- 
echoed from shore to shore, and from island to island, 
formed the other and more important part of that almost 
irresistible combination of intellectual and moral influences, 
designated by the comprehensive name of /^ovo-ixn'. 
Thus inspired with a high poetic enthusiasm, and armed 
with the weapon of acute penetration, the Greek youth 
approached the study of philosophy, the investigation of 
the most abstruse as well as the most practical sub- 
jects, of the inner nature of man, as well as of his out- 
ward relations as a social being. The latitude which was 
in all their studies afforded to every individual, to in- 
vent, to think, to feel, and to apprehend for himself, was 
the life of their education, which became dead from the 
moment when the sophists began to reduce it into the 
forms of system and pedantry. To nothing else than this 
latitude, this individual liberty, is it to be attributed, that, 
within comparatively so short a period, and within so 
small an extent of territory, so many men rose up of 
eminent character, all strongly marked with the features 
of distinct originality, the powerful influence of which 
was so great, that whilst in other nations, and among 
the Greeks themselves in Sparta, the character of emi- 
nent men was determined by that of the nation : in Athens, 
on the contrary, and in other Greek states, the commu- 
nity assumed successively the different characters, how- 



10 ANCIENT ROME. 

ever contradictory with eaich other, of those privileged 
individuals, whom natural endowments and a high degree 
of cultivation rendered, not by legal enactment, but by 
the universal consent of admiration, the rulers of their 
fellow citizens, and the tone-givers of their age. 

Very different from this picture is that which Rome 
presents. Rome's social constitution was, from its very 
beginning, nothing more nor less than a highly refined 
and highly consistent system of social selfishness. Much 
has been said of the disinterestedness of the Roman cha- 
racter, of that spirit of self-denial, and devotcdness to the 
universal welfare, which are praised up as the definitive 
virtue of that celebrated city ; but it has been forgotten 
that the very reverse of all this was the character which 
the Romans as a body displayed towards a world trodden 
in the dust by their unquenchable thirst of conquest. It 
has been forgotten that, if examples of self-sacrifice occur 
in Roman history, which are unparalleled in the records 
of any other Pagan nation, they were only the price paid 
for those phantoms of glory, by which the Republic re- 
warded the suppression of every independent thought, and 
of every free feeling of the human bosom. The self-de- 
nial was but an illusory one ; for every Roman looked 
with an eye of insatiable greediness to the commonwealth 
for his share of the national grandeur and glory, as a com- 
pensation, which he considered himself entitled to for the 
absolute sacrifice of his individual selfishness ; so that 
when the state was no longer able to satisf}'^ the progres- 
sively increasing demands of those impetuous creditors, the 
Roman threw off the ill-endured mask, and, in the entire 
dissolution of all social order, displayed individually that 
same character, which, as his national feature, had ren- 
dered him long before the execration of the world. It seems 
somewhat inconsistent with this absolute claim to the 
whole existence of every individual, which the Roman 
community preferred, and for a time enforced, that edu- 



ANCIEXT ROME. 11 

cation should have been allowed to remain in the hands 
of the family. But the paradox is easily solved if we 
consider that the mother was no less a Roman than the 
father, and that the pride and ambition of the family was 
an atmosphere so favourable to the growth of those much 
lauded virtues of the Roman character, that the state, in 
leaving the child in the hands of the parent, so far from 
hazarding the public object of education, on the contrary 
secured it much more effectually than could have been 
done by any other means. The wisdom of this arrange- 
ment is sufficiently vindicated by its results. Nothing was 
introduced in the education of the young Roman, but 
what was immediately calculated to fit him for the pur- 
poses of the Republic ; religious education he received 
none, for there was not even at Rome so much as an edu- 
cation for the priesthood. The compendious system of 
superstition, which has sometimes been honoured with the 
name of the religion of Rome, was never any thing but a 
lever in the hands of the aristocracy, to set in motion, or 
arrest, at their pleasure, the brute force of the ignorant 
and credulous mass ; and, therefore, the priesthood was 
in Rome nothing but an appendage to the executive power. 
A splendid political and military career was in Rome the 
straight road to church preferment. How little Roman 
education had to do with science, with art and philosophy, 
is notorious enough. Down to the period of the conquest 
of Greece, those fruits of the Greek soil were entirely 
unknown in the invincible city ; and what estimation they 
were held in afterwards, is sufficiently evident from the 
fact, that the task of teaching them devolved exclusively 
upon slaves. There is, however, one school, and that a 
public one, in which the Roman youth received part of 
his education — I mean the camp. To make him a good 
soldier, and, if descended from an aristocratic family, a 
good general, the boy was domesticated in the tent as 
early as possible, there to be rendered familiar with the 
revolting scenes of the field of battle, and to be inured to 



12 THE JEWISH THEOCRACY. 

that callousness of feeling, to that contempt of suffering 
and death, which was an essential ingredient in the cha- 
racter of a Roman. This was the education by which 
Rome insured victory and triumph to its rapacious eagles ! 
Having thus taken a short glance of the state of educa- 
tion as it was in the pagan world, it will be more easy for 
us to understand the change which was operated upon it 
by the introduction of Christianity. But before I proceed 
to this, it will be necessary that I should notice the cha- 
racter which education assumed under the influence of that 
theocratic principle upon which the social constitution of 
the Jewish nation was founded ; as it forms a most striking 
contrast with those schemes of human policy wliich I have 
before mentioned. Among the Jews, education was, as we 
might expect from the peculiar and eminent station 
assigned to that people in the history of the ancient world, 
Essentially religious. From the moment of birth the child 
was made subject to the ordinances of religion ; its earliest 
impressions must have been those of indispensable religious 
duty. Every occurrence of daily life was a means of 
bringing to the recollection of the youths of Israel, the 
God of their fathers, by whose will the whole of their lives 
was to be regulated ; and the visits which they paid, from 
the age of twelve years, three times every year, at the 
temple of Jerusalem, where the whole nation was on those 
solemn occasions assembled, gave to those religious feelings 
which domestic life had awakened, a national character. 
Then it was, that the idea of the invisible God ruling over 
his people Israel, and directing them in all their ways, 
received its full value, and its full force. Their priests 
and rulers were not men commanding in their own name ; 
they were the witnesses of the Most High, — his standard- 
bearers, — the messengers of his will and word among his 
people ; and every individual felt, that the direction of his 
heart, and the conduct of his life, belonged not to himself, 
but to the Lord. It was this absolute submission of the 
soul to the ruling power of the invisible Jehovah, — the 



THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 13 

effect of a purely theocratic education, in those periods of 
the Jewish history, in which the people lived in the spirit, 
not after the letter of their dispensation, — that filled the 
whole nation with that high enthusiasm, with which they 
boldly held up the banners of the Lord of Hosts in the 
midst of an idolatrous world, and gained the most glo- 
rious triumphs over enemies, which, in a merely human 
point of view, must have overwhelmed them by the supe- 
riority of their power, as, in fact, they actually did, when- 
ever the spirit of the Lord was departed from the elected 
nation. Of great and lasting importance is, in this, as in so 
many other respects, the great example which God has set 
up in Israel; for in spite of the abundant profession 
which there is among us, of religious education, I have no 
hesitation in saying, that if it was not for the picture ex- 
hibited in the better times of the Jewish history, the world 
would not yet have had, down to the present day, a prac- 
tical illustration of the effect which the theocratic principle, 
the principle of the power and Spirit of God ruling over 
the heart of man, applied to education, has upon the cha- 
racter of individuals, and of nations. 

But I resume now the history of education in the Gen- 
tile world, considering the changes which the introduction 
of Christianity produced. We have not, that I afti awdre, any 
direct information respecting this subject, as it stood in the 
primitive Christian Church ; but, from what we know of its 
character in other respects, it will not be difficult to infer, with 
a high degree of certainty, what may have been the leading 
features of education among the early Christians. From the 
simple application, which was, at the very earliest period, 
made of the principles of brotherly love, upon the adminis- 
tration of the temporal concerns of believers, inducing them 
to establish among themselves community of goods, if 
not always in form, at least in spirit, and to unite in a sort 
of sacred household, — I should apprehend that the education 
of the first Christians was essentially domestic. From the 
meek and lovely character of the Christian dispensation 



14 CHURCH a:nd state. 

itself, and from the heartfelt simplicity with which charity 
was received, in those times, as its leading feature, I should 
further infer, that the moving principle in education also 
was love rather than fear. The strict discipline which 
obtained in the early churches, for the sake of consistency 
between doctrine and pi'actice, as well as for the purpose of 
rigorous distinction from the pagan world, leads me to 
think, that attention to a proper conduct of life was a very 
essential point, also, in the domestic discipline ; and lastly, I 
should conclude from the social position in which the first 
Christian communities were placed, and the persecutions 
under which they were labouring, on one hand, that their 
virtues were more of a passive and negative, than of an 
active and positive nature : and, on the other, that the whole 
tendency of their education was not to direct the child's 
attention to the goods and enjoyments, the honours and 
preferments, of this world, but to render him conscious of 
those eternal treasures, which no human exertion can pro- 
cure, and no human persecution can take away. 

But this happy time — ^for, notwithstanding all its per- 
secutions, Christianity has never yet seen a happier one — 
did not last long. Political power erected itself arro- 
gantly as the protector of Christianity, and from this mo- 
ment the latter received in itself a seed of corruption, of 
which the subsequent generations have reaped many a 
baneful harvest, and for the extermination of which, there 
was no other remedy than that which has very recently begun 
to be adopted, viz., an entire separation between religion 
and the state. In consequence of this separation, those 
who have hitherto been accustomed to look to political 
power for the support of religion, and to associate with it 
the idea of worldly preferment, will be obliged to acknow- 
ledge the superiority of the living truth of divine revela- 
tion over the dead forms of human institution, and to view 
the grandeur and the honours of man's making, with that 
indifference which becomes those that are made ac- 
quainted with the greatness and the glory of the Kingdom 



CHURCH AXD PRIESTHOOD, 15 

of God. Education, as one of the most vital and most sen- 
sitive parts of the social organization, soon began to feel 
the reaction of that uncongenial and pernicious alliance 
which religion had formed with human power. The unity 
of purpose which had existed in the primitive church 
ceased, and, with a twofold object, a twofold mode of edu- 
cation was introduced. Religious education became now 
in fact nothing more than the training for a particular 
trade ; whilst, on the other hand, the tuition of those des- 
tined for civil life, or a political career, included in itself 
a far greater proportion of pagan than of christian ele- 
ments. Of these two, the former became of necessity the 
more corrupt, because, with a higher profession of prin- 
ciple, it combined an equally low, and, in some instances, 
even a lower purpose than the latter. The first occasion 
of this corruption was an essential mistake, and one which, 
down to the present day, has not yet been sufficiently 
explored. The principle which has within the last 
years been laid do^vn as the basis of what is called civil 
and religious liberty, viz. : that religion has nothing to do 
with matters of state, is certainly a false one; but the 
principle of clerical ascendancy, in opposition to which it 
has been established, is not less false. The primitive idea 
which gave birth to the claim of supremacy on the part of 
the church over all worldly matters, was no doubt a cor- 
rect one — it was the undeniable, though, perhaps, at the 
present time, very unpractical idea, that the principles of 
religion, of course, pure and unadulterated, should be the 
only test and standard of all human transactions ; and in 
this sense it is strictly true, that the church ought not 
only to be allied with, but to rule over the state. Unfor- 
tunately, however, the principle was soon perverted by a 
substitution of the idea of priesthood to that of the 
church. The consequence of this important mistake was the 
promulgation of a principle, as false and pernicious as the 
former is true and salutary, namely, — that the priesthood 
should rule over, or at least participate in worldly power. In 



i6 MONACHISM AND CHIVALRY. 

this manner it was, that the ministry of religion, which was 
originally a humble service of God and man, rose above the 
common level of society, to competition of rank with its 
rulers. The foundation, nevertheless, on which these pre- 
tensions ultimately rested, was not to be lost sight of ; and 
the greater, therefore, the departure from the spirit of 
religion, the more necessary seemed a rigid adherence to 
its forms. In this contradiction of purpose and means 
originated the monastic education of the middle ages ; 
which, in matters of knowledge, confined itself, at each 
period, to the least possible degree of knowledge, abso- 
lutely required by the exigencies of the age, — giving, at the 
same time, this scanty allowance in the most pedantic and 
the most enthralling form ; and which, on the score of 
discipline, consisted in nothing else but an ostentatious 
display of outward austerity and sanctity, under which 
the most unrestrained and profane dispositions might lurk 
unmolested, and, under the aegis of secrecy, impunely obtain 
the basest and most sinful gratification. That this educa- 
tion, which chained down the intellect by a servile formal- 
ism, and acted upon the moral man by the most slavish 
fear, was, in its tendency, both anti-religious and anti- 
social, no one that has the slightest knowledge of mo- 
nastic history, will attempt to deny : nor will it be difiicult 
to prove, that the education of those destined to appear on 
the stage of civil or political life, was equally inconsistent, 
both with the dictates of religion and with the welfare of 
society. The only schools in which, during the middle 
ages, that sort of education was given, were the courts of 
princes. As to knowledge, it is no secret that its extent 
was extremely limited ; the chief objects of study being 
hawking, hunting, fencing, and some other acquirements 
of the like description ; and, as regards the motives which 
were principally brought into action, they were ambition, 
the thirst of distinction in the eyes of the prince, and of 
his courtiers, and the pride of a prowess, consisting in the 
possession of a stronger hand and a stouter heart, by 



THE REFORMATION.-^THE PRESENT AGE. 17 

which a man was enabled, in plain speech, to knock down 
a greater number of his fellow creatures than his rival 
would either undertake or succeed in. 

In this splendid division of the field of human 
labour between monastic hypocrisy, and haughty Vanda- 
lism, the great mass of the people were — fortunately for 
them, no doubt, under such circumstances — entirely for- 
gotten ; and it was not till the time of the reformation that 
notice was taken of the mental and moral barrenness in 
which by far the largest proportion of the community 
had been allowed to grow up. The new impulse which 
the reformation gave to the march of civilization, and the 
jealous watchfulness with which the reformers inquired 
into the causes of the national thraldom of mind, brought 
to light the fearful ignorance in which the lower classes 
had been kept, and caused some provisions to be made for 
the education of the rising generations to a more enlight- 
ened state. But it was not to be expected, that those, 
who had themselves hardly emerged from a state of pedan- 
tic instruction, in many instances, perhaps, worse than 
ignorance, should at once be enabled to devise, and to 
bring into practice, a free and enlightened mode of tuition. 
Hence it is, that the education, insured to the poorer 
classes in consequence of the reformation, was itself poor 
enough. Indeed, that of the rich remained not less de- 
fective ; even at the present day, have we not to deplore, 
besides the narrowness of the instruction given in charity 
schools, the existence of a sad remnant of monastic spirit 
in Protestant seats of learning, and of Vandalism in the 
political and military career ? 

Within the last fifty years, however, these defects have 
been universally felt, and it is remarkable to see the 
ejfforts which have been making in the three principal 
countries of civilized Europe, Germany, France, and 
England, to ameliorate the state of education, so much 
the more, as they exhibit, in a very striking manner, the 
characteristic features of the three nations. In Germany, 



18 'GERMAXV, FRANCE. 

in which there was, and still is, the smallest proportion 
of practical knowledge, in spite of a great deal of learning, 
or at least teaching, an attempt has been made to introduce 
topics of practical utility in the instruction of youth, and 
at the same time to get rid of the heavy forms in which all 
knowledge was till then communicated. Since the time of 
Basedow, who, in this respect, broke the ice, a number of 
schemes were successively palmed upon the German public, 
which had all for their object to convey knowledge of 
natural science, and other topics of real life, in a pleasing, 
or rather in a trifling manner, by means of dialogizing 
tales, in which a great variety of matter is introduced, as 
it were, by the way of a propos, without any order or 
plan. In combination with this unprofitable reform of the 
intellectual part of education, the attempt was made to 
supplant the cane, — till then, and, in many parts, even till 
now, the great lever of moral discipline. — by a sort of sen- 
timental moral-preaching, likewise in the form of childish 
stories, properly interlined with ingenious questions and 
answers. The looseness of knowledge, and laxity of moral 
feeling, produced by these new systems on one hand, and, 
on the other, the pedantry of the old mode of tuition, and 
the despotic sway of its barbarous discipline, gave rise to 
an opposition, equally directed against both. In the last 
popular excitement of Germany, occasioned by the war 
against Napoleon, when many a dream of immature 
reform was dreamed, the idea of educating the youth of 
the country, somewhat upon the system of Lycurgus and 
Plato, independently of all parental interference, under the 
authority, and for the purposes of the state, was abortively 
broached by those who, hoping to see a new era in the 
political state of their country, were anxious to secure 
durability to the vainly anticipated forms of civil liberty, 
by training up a sound and manly generation. 

The changes made in France at the same period, and 
from similar causes, as they consisted chiefly in a violent 
emancipation from superannuated superstition, and from 



ENGLAND. 19 

the impostures of daring hypocrisy, partook, in their ori- 
gin, too much of the character of infidelity, to produce 
real benefit. The attempt to inspire the nation with en- 
thusiasm upon such a basis, could but degenerate into 
those deplorable excesses, which will for ever stain the 
close of the last century, and was of course not calculated 
to give a better impulse to education. Since the storm 
has been allayed, the prospect has, apparently at least, 
become clearer ; but it is to be feared, that the pretended 
improvements will not bear the test of closer examination. 
The turn which the tide of public instruction, in France, 
has taken since the restoration of peace in Europe, seems 
to indicate a decided predilection for the superficial glitter 
of an extensive empiric knowledge ; in the acquirement of 
which, the idol of human reason is not less profanely wor- 
shipped, than in the mad performances of revolutionary 
atheism ; Avhilst the heart is left cold and indifferent, a 
prey to false sentiment or degrading passion. 

And now, if we fix our looks lastly upon England, and 
ask, " What is the spirit of those changes which have 
been made in popular education within these last thirty or 
forty years ?'"■ — shall we arrive at a more favourable result .'' 
I fear not. Here also the wish for improvement has re- 
ceived a false direction, singularly analogous to the cha- 
racteristic bias of the nation. Whatever has of late been 
done in this country under the name of improvement in 
education, has invariably borne a manufacturing aspect. 
The question has not been — What must we do to give to 
every child the best possible education .? but — What are the 
best means of educating the greatest possible number of 
children with the smallest expense of capital and of human 
labour ? So that, without the slightest regard being paid 
to the nature of the treatment which the child's mind and 
heart receive, it has been considered as an unquestionable 
proof of a superior system, that one master should be 
enabled to drill a thousand children instead of a hundred, 
and that the movements of the mass should strike the eye 

c 2 



20 ADVANCED CIVILIZATION OF ENGLAND. 

as more regular, and less interrupted by any expression of 
individual thought and feeling, than what had been'exhibited 
before under a less perfect system of machinery. This 
false tendency is the more deeply to be deplored, as Eng- 
land is, of all the countries of Europe, and perhaps of the 
world, that in which mistakes on matters of vital impor- 
tance are of the greatest consequence. The nations of the 
continent can, to use a common phrase, better afford to 
commit blunders, because in the slow march of their na- 
tional life evils do not spread so rapidly, and there is more 
time left for their observation and correction. Not so in 
this country. Whoever has impartially observed and 
compared the state of things here and abroad, must be 
aware of the immense difference in the degree of develop- 
ment which society has attained ; and I do not think this 
difference at all overrated in saying that England is from 
two to three centuries in advance in the march of civiliza- 
tion before the other countries of Europe. This supe- 
riority, whilst it is a subject for congratulation, is on the 
other hand also a cause for serious apprehension. The 
complication of all the relations of society, and the rapidity 
and superficiality of social intercourse, are a great draw- 
back upon social morality, for which no other compensa- 
tion can be found than a more strict, firm, and indepen- 
dent adherence to principle on the part of every single 
individual in the community. In countries in which 
civilization is in a less advanced state, there is a primitive- 
ness and a simplicity in all the ties of society which form 
a happy substitute for that higher moral development 
which is generally wanting. The contact which every in- 
dividual has with society is of such a nature as to render 
him, in the sphere in which he moves, perfectly well known, 
not only in his character, but also in his various concerns, 
and therefore dependant upon the moral suffrages which 
he may earn ; in this manner a sort of public morality is 
created, by which the individual, however weak in his own 
principles, is supported like a faint man in a crowd. Nay, 



THE CLAIMS OF SOCIETY. 21 

the whole of society resembles a crowd of faint men up- 
holding each othei', because they stand too close to allow 
to each other room for falling. The progress of civiliza- 
tion, on the contrary, has the effect of enlarging the sphere 
of every individual, and rendering him more insulated 
and more independent ; and hence it is, that it has a ten- 
dency to weaken that mutual support which man gives to 
man in a primitive state of society. But it is not the pur- 
pose of God that man should remain leaning upon man ; 
he must learn to stand, independently of man, in the 
strength of the Lord ; and the gradual breaking down of 
that social morality is therefore to be hailed rather than 
deplored, provided civilization take such a turn as will 
tend to render the individuals strong in the Lord ; that 
is to say, provided society give to those whom it no 
longer upholds by the power of the mass, an essentially 
religious education. 

This brings me back to the question from which I 
was led to this review of the history of education, the 
question — What are the rights and duties of the family, 
and of society at large, respecting the education of chil- 
dren belonging to them .'' Is it not evident from the con- 
sequences which the neglect of education produces in the 
inevitable progress of civilization, that society must have 
a positive duty to give it to every individual born in its 
bosom ? This duty might indeed be inferred indisputably 
from the claim which society lays to the services of every 
such individual ; for — (to take no higher ground than is 
taken by all moral philosophers, and even by political eco- 
nomists) — ^it is generally admitted, that every right pro- 
duces a corresponding duty. Now, if society have, or 
pretend to have, a right to the services of every individual, 
it is clear that this right necessarily involves some duty ; 
and what can that duty more obviously be, than that 
society should give to its children such an education as 
will fit them for the services which it intends to exact 
from them in after life ? 



22 THE DUTIES OF SOCIETY. 

The duty of the family, and especially of the parent, is, 
no doubt, more immediate ; and accordingly its fulfilment 
has in some measure been secured by an innate feeling, 
which, although weakened or misdirected in almost every 
instance, is yet exterminated, or entirely perverted, only 
where vulgar degradation has reached its lowest ebb, or 
fashionable corruption its highest tide. But whilst this 
feeling is so deeply engrafted in the human bosom, that 
there is hardly a parent to be found wholly indifferent to 
the fate of his child, the fulfilment of the duty which it 
involves presupposes such a variety of moral qualifica- 
tions, of intellectual acquirements, and even of outwardly 
favourable circumstances, on the part of the parents, that 
by far the greater number of them are not able to dis- 
charge their obligations in this respect, however strongly 
they may feel them. It devolves then upon society, as the 
claimant upon the future services of their children, to 
assist those parents who are willing themselves to lend a 
helping hand in the education of their children, and alto- 
gether to take the place of those who entirely neglect it, 
either from the straitness of their circumstances, or from 
moral torpor or dissipation. 

But if, what seems almost impossible after so simple and 
so conclusive an argument, any doubt should be left con- 
cerning the duty which society has to discharge towards 
the rising generation, — if there be any that do not wish to 
follow principles, without the evidence of facts, — ^let me 
appeal to the grievous facts which the present state of this 
country exhibits. Let any one take an attentive survey 
of the present condition of society ; let him carefully 
examine the motives and feelings by which the great mass 
of the population are guided in their transactions ; let him 
look at the overbearing influence of covetousness, and 
selfishness in every other garb, by which men are led away, 
at the expense of honest principles and generous sentiments; 
let him cast up the sum of dishonesty and immorality 
which is with impunity committed, because not amenable 



CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING THEM. 23 

to the law of the land ; let him add to this the sum of 
vices and crimes which escape the avenging arm of justice, 
daily and hourly stretched out upon the perpetrators ; and 
let him complete this sad account by the number of those 
who are every year doomed to more or less protracted 
wretchedness, or to an untimely death ; let any one, I say, 
cast his eye upon this disgusting and deplorable scene — 
let him, on one hand, trace to their origin those evils, by 
which the very vitals of society are infected, and observe, 
on the other, their rapid and progressive increase ; will he 
dare to deny, that it is the hand of God avenging upon 
society the neglect of its duties to the rising generations ? 
Of all the laws laid down by God for the government 
of the moral world, there is none that can be violated 
with impunity ; and in his justice and his wisdom he 
has so ordered it, that the more sacred the trust, the 
more terrible will be the vengeance upon those that dis- 
regard it. 

But where, it may be asked, is the proof that society 
does neglect its duties to the rising generation ? Are not 
our ears daily filled with the praise of this happy and 
enlightened age, on account of its extensive exertions in 
the cause of education ? I will not now be fastidious, and 
find fault with this or that system ; I will, for a moment, 
suppose all education that is given, to have a truly good 
and moral tendency ; and will merely ask, what proportion 
of the children of this country receive any education what- 
ever ? The number of children of the poorer classes in 
England (for of the other two kingdoms we have not 
even sufficient data to form an estimate) amounts, accord- 
ing to the latest calculation, to about two millions, not in 
eluding those under five, nor those above twelve years of 
age. Of this number, there are one million attending at 
day schools of different descriptions ; the Sabbath schools 
belonging to the Establishment count about half a million 
of scholars ; and those conducted by different dissenting 
denominations contain an equal number. At the same time. 



24 FACTS PllOVING THE NEGLECT. 

it is to be observed, that more than one half of the children 
attending on Sabbath schools, do also frequent day schools, 
so that they appear twice in the above statement. From 
these data it follows, that of the children of the poor in 
England there is but one fourth that receive instruction 
both during the week and on the Sabbath ; one fourth who 
are under tuition on week days, but not on the Sabbath ; 
one fourth, who, attending upon Sabbath schools only, are 
left without instruction during the whole week ; and one 
fourth who receive no education whatever, either in 
the week or on the Sabbath. It need not be added, 
that the parents who neglect to bring their children 
into contact with any of the public means of education, 
are not likely to supply that deficiency themselves, 
so that the inference is incontestable that the whole of the 
last named five hundred thousand children are growing 
up in the abodes of utter physical and moral destitution, 
and, worse than that, in the haunts of vice and criminality. 
Is it credible that a community calling itself a Christian 
community, nay, one that lays claim to the Christian cha- 
racter jjar excellence, should allow half a million of human 
beings to grow up, year after year, in its bosom, without 
any means being adopted to bring them to a consciousness 
of their state, and of their destination, and to a knowledge 
of the means which God has appointed for them, and the 
duties which he has imposed upon them, with a view to 
lead them to the attainment of the purpose of their lives ? 
And is it to be supposed that so fearful a neglect of the most 
sacred duty will pass by unpunished ? Or shall we doubt a 
moment, that the overwhelming flood of immorality, vice, 
and crime, which is setting in upon the framework of soci- 
ety, is the vengeance of God upon a nation, which, in the 
amply folded garb of profession, commits the most profane 
desecration of his holy purpose, in the dereliction of thou- 
sands and thousands of those little ones, whom He has com- 
manded us to receive in his name ? 



25 



LECTURE 11. 



CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT. 

I HAVE, in the last lecture, attempted to shew, on the 
ground of history, in what light the relative duties of the 
family, and of society at large, concerning the education of 
their children, have been viewed at different times, and by 
different nations ; and I have likewise endeavoured to prove, 
on the mere ground of social principles, and of the self- 
interest of the community, that the latter has a decided 
duty to assist and even to substitute parents in the dis- 
charge of the trust which is laid upon them, to bring up 
their children in a manner conducive to their own welfare 
and to that of the whole community. But, as I observed 
at the commencement of this subject, there is another 
ground on which it may be considered, besides that of mere 
human policy. Our question, to be satisfactorily answered, 
must be viewed in the light of religion ; we must ask — 
" What are the rights and duties of a Christian family., 
and of a Christian community, respecting the education of 
those children which God has confided to their care .?'" 

It is impossible for us entirely to separate our views on 
education from those religious considerations which, in a 
Christian country, more or less influence every department 
of life, and accordingly this string has been occasionally 



26 CHRISTIAN VIEW OF THE SUBJECT. 

touched upon already in the first lecture. But there is a 
vast difference between a religious bias of our views on edu- 
cation, given, as it were, by a sidewind, from an inevitable 
association in our thoughts and feelings, and a view of edu- 
cation essentially founded upon the principles of religion. 
The former must, in a measure, cleave to the theories and 
practice of every one that has been brought up in a land 
which is under the influence of revelation, so much so, that 
I question whether even an infidel, however violently strug- 
gling against all that savours of religion, can entirely rid 
himself, in his system of education, of those associations and 
impressions, which he has imbibed in early life, and which 
are daily recalled to his mind and feelings by a thousand 
surrounding influences. On the other hand, education, 
essentially founded upon the principles of religion, re- 
quires so spiritual and vital an apprehension, not of the 
words and doctrines, but of the power and life of religion, 
that its theory and its practice are but rarely to be met 
with even among the religious, and most rarely of all, I 
fear, among those who most pride themselves in doctrinal 
superiority. It would be unjust and presumptuous to 
deny that approaches — very near ones, perhaps, in some 
instances — ^have now and then been made to what might be 
called the ideal of Christian education ; but it is certain, 
that the most popular systems fall far short of this pattern ; 
nay, I would say more ; it appears to me that we are only 
now on the eve of that period of Christian development, at 
which it will be possible to make the application of the 
principles of Christianity to general education. One 
of the reasons I have to form this opinion, is the confusion 
of terms and ideas which pervades the different sects and 
parties on that subject, which to me indicates the approach 
of a clearer and more enlightened epoch ; for in the march 
of human civilization, as well as in the course of nature, 
every purest sky is preceded by a night of storm, and 
every brightest sunbeam by the gathering of clouds. 
Taking this view of the subject, I am well aware that 



MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 2^ 

I shall be obliged to venture on disputed ground, and I 
therefore request of you to divest yourselves for a moment 
of those preconceived notions, which, if allowed to influ- 
ence your judgment on the present occasion, would clog 
the freedom of inquiry, and to follow me with no other 
guide than the highest standard of faith, the internal con- 
viction of truth and error. 

It is an observation which strikes me, as being applica- 
ble to almost every department of human knowledge at 
this time, that with a jealousy against the views which 
our forefathers entertained, and with a zeal, in many in^ 
stances extravagant, to correct the real or supposed errors 
of their systems, our age combines a remarkably servile 
adherence to the premises from which those views and 
systems were merely the conclusions. Hence we have in 
our days a great deal of mending and patching in the 
details of every branch of knowledge, whilst a number of 
false premises remain unshaken, and mocking, as it were^ 
the childish endeavours of the investigating and criti- 
cising multitude, continue to produce as many false posi- 
tions, as are successively struck off the list of our articles 
of belief. This unsuspecting method of our modem 
philosophers, has the effect of causing the minds of their 
contemporaries to be tossed about on the boundless ocean 
of error, on which he, who disappointed in one direction, 
contents himself, without any positive guide, to steer in an 
opposite one, may for ever cruise about, without disco- 
vering the shore of truth. Too much reliance has been 
placed upon that negative spirit of inquiry, which under 
the semblance of truth beguiles mankind into errors more 
incurable, because they are accompanied with a self-com- 
placent feeling of superiority to others, and of victory 
over prejudice and narrow-mindedness. To adduce one 
instance for the sake of illustration : — There has been a 
system of instruction prevailing for many years past, 
which consisted in nothing but dictatorial inculcation of 
the notions of the teacher into the pupils' mind, without 



28 ASSUMED UIGHTS OF SOCIETY. 

any regard to their powers of inquiring and judging for 
themselves. This gross mistake has at length been 
found out, and, as it is supposed, corrected by a party 
which of all others, prides itself in the enlightened cha- 
racter of its measures; and what did the improvement 
consist in ? The reasoning powers were now appealed to, 
exclusively, and on every subject ; every other ground of 
conviction was thrown overboard as useless ballast, and 
the too much lightened vessel now floats over the restless 
waves of public opinion, an easy game to every wanton 
wind of doctrine. The mere discovery that this also is a 
mistake, is, again, not a sufficient ground to go upon in 
search of the proper mode of proceeding ; from that point 
the way is open to an indefinite number of other mistakes ; 
and there is no end to these wild wanderings of the mind, 
until we come to explore first principles, and, purifying 
them from all that is human alloy, take, for our sole 
guide and standard, the pure light of divine truth. 

If we apply these remarks to the question now under 
consideration, we shall find that, whilst a variety of 
systems have at different times been built upon the sup- 
position, that the family and society have certain rights 
to the children born in their bosom, there has never been 
so much as an attempt to found the whole system of edu- 
cation upon the sole basis of the duties which they have 
to discharge, without assuming any rights, but such as 
must necessarily be granted to render the fulfilment of 
those duties possible. In this, as in every other respect, 
we have founded our theory and practice upon the pre- 
mises, that there are certain inalienable and incontestable 
rights, from which the whole constitution of society, 
and all our social duties are derived — but never has the 
question been asked: What is the foundation of those 
rights ; where is the evidence that they are rights, esta- 
blished by the law of God, and not rights of our own 
assuming .f* So far, however, from our duties being de- 
rived from our rights, the latter are, on the contrary. 



ALL RIGHTS DERIVED FROM DUTIES. 29 

entirely founded upon the former. No man, nor any 
other creature whatever, has or can have any right to the 
possession or enjoyment of any thing, but in as far as it 
is requisite for the fulfilment of his duties. God gives 
nothing without purpose, and consequently the creature 
cannot have a right to anything except it be in reference 
to that purpose ; and as the purpose of God is the crea- 
ture's duty, it is obvious that whatever rights the crea- 
ture may possess, they are all immediately derived from 
his duty. 

If this then be true, and if it be true, moreover, that 
man is a fallen creature, and that his restoration is God's 
purpose with him, is it not evidently the duty of the 
family and of society, to assist every individual from the 
first moment of his existence by every means in their 
power, in the attainment of that purpose ? and is it not 
evident, likewise, that neither the family nor the society 
can have a right to lay any claims to, or assume any 
authority over the child, but such as is indispensably ne- 
cessary for the discharge of that duty ? What an immense 
change does the acknowledgment of this truth produce 
in the whole aspect of our question ! and how incalculable 
are the practical conclusions, to which these premises, if 
once sincerely admitted, will lead us, in opposition to by 
far the largest proportion of the rules and maxims now 
generally followed in the business of education ! For 
at present not only the greatest, but also the most effi- 
cient part of education is given on the assumption, that 
we have a claim to the future exertions of the indivi- 
duals whom we train up, and with a view to secure to 
ourselves the greatest possible quantum of exertion at the 
smallest expense. This is not only the case with reference 
to that part of tuition, in public and private schools, 
which is commonly and not improperly, designated by 
the appellation " worldly knowledge," but even the 
cause of religious instruction is not unfrequently pleaded 
on this ground, vifs. that it is the best interest of society 



30 FALSE VIEW OF EDUCATION. 

that its members should be encouraged to industrious 
habits and good conduct by the influence of religious im- 
pressions. 

Manifold are the evil consequences which arise from 
this primitive mistake in the view we generally take of 
education. We ourselves, approaching the field of labour 
in a wrong and false spirit, can neither apply the right 
means, nor even benefit by the experience we gain ; for 
being blind to the real cause of our ill success, and of our 
repeated disappointments, we endeavour to account for 
them in some other way, and thereby necessarily fall into 
confusion and injustice. As regards the children, they 
cannot but perceive that there is something arbitrary and 
oppressive in our conduct, which, although they are not 
able to explain it, yet their feelings are acute enough to 
apprize them of, and which induces them in most instances 
unconsciously, but not on that account less perseveringly 
or efiiciently, to oppose, and, if possible, to baffle our efforts. 
Lastly, if we ask what expectations we can, under such cir- 
cumstances, entertain of the blessing of God attending our 
exertions, is it not plain that, — ^however much we may 
aff*ect to talk of its visible efiects, when we pompously 
assemble to glorify less him than ourselves in the report 
of what we have done, — there can be no reasonable antici- 
pation of the divine assistance in the pursuit of labours, 
which have for their object the attainment, not of his, but 
of our own purpose.'' Thus it happens that education, 
which was intended by God as a blessing to both parents 
and children, is considered, because felt by both as an 
intolerable burden, of which both long to get rid as soon 
as possible, and to which both submit only because they 
cannot help it. Is it not lamentable that man should thus 
in his folly and selfishness turn that which God has ap- 
pointed for him as a source of improvement and of happi- 
ness, into an instrument of degradation and misery, and 
render a curse to himself that which divine wisdom and 
mercy had destined to be one of the greatest blessings ? 



ERROR IK DIVINITY. 31 

This unfortunate perversion of the relative position of 
parent and child, of teacher and pupil, is connected with a 
sad mistake in our systems of divinity, which seems to me 
to be of too great importance not to be mentioned on the 
present occasion : I mean the construction generally put 
upon that decree which the Almighty pronounced over man 
after the fall. By an assumption as gratuitous as any I 
ever met with, the whole of the laws laid down for human 
existence in its degraded state, in the latter part of the 
third chapter of Genesis, is considered as a venting of the di- 
vine wrath upon disobedient man, and commonly goes by the 
name of " the curse;'' whereas it appears to me that it is one 
great and wonderful chain of mercies, — in fact, the compre- 
hension of all the good gifts, which man was capable of receiv- 
ing, in the condition into which he had brought himself, by 
withdrawing his soul from the rule of his bountiful Maker. 
It is not sufficiently considered that man had inflicted upon 
himself the sum and substance of all evil, which is, to be 
separated from God, and in a state of rebellion against 
him ; and that the purpose of the divine arrangements 
after that unfortunate event, was not to aggravate that evil, 
but to mitigate it, and to open to man a way, by which he 
might gradually return to that state, for which he was origi- 
nally destined. Man''s preclusion from the enjoyment of the 
tree of life has manifestly that intention, as a continued pos- 
session of power, without an holy will to correct it, would 
only have involved man in deeper destruction. The same is 
to be said of the laborious life to which man is doomed : for 
although the expression is used, " cursed is the ground for 
thy sake," there is no reason why this should mean, 
" cursed is the ground that thou may est be cursed indi- 
rectly ;"" but it may just as well be interpreted, " cursed 
is the ground for thy benefit.""* And this is in fact the case. 

* The erroneous interpretation alluded to has been supported by the etymo- 
logy of the word "1^355 ^^ ^^^ original, said to be derived firom "l?^, which, 
in one of its manifold acceptations, means ''to pass over,^* whence "1!135=^> 
by transition. The ground is cursed for thy sake, i. e. by transition of the 



32 INSTITUTION OF THE PARENTAL STATE. 

For by the necessitous condition to which man was ex- 
posed, and in which he was brought into contact with 
outward nature, he had the opportunity afforded, nay, the 
necessity imposed upon him, of becoming conversant again 
with the laws of his Maker, against which he had rebelled. 
He had had access to them in their highest perfection and 
fulness, inasmuch as he was admitted to the divine presence, 
but having rejected them, he was incapacitated for ap- 
proaching them in any other manner than as they are dis- 
played at the very lowest stage in earthly existence. But 
what most immediately refers to our present subject, is 
what is most profanely called ' the curse upon woman,' 
viz. — the establishment of that sacred relationship between 
parent and child, which was the principal of the means of 
restoration appointed by God at that period. To this 
relationship no allusion whatever is made previously to the 
fall, and it is, therefore, highly j probable that it was not 
intended in the primitive state of man ; at least, it cannot, 
without a most gratuitous assumption, be asserted that it 
was. The supposition that it was not intended, is not 
only more conformable to the scriptural account, but it 
receives an additional weight from the fact, that the estab- 
lishment of that relationship has a definite object, which 
could not possibly exist before the fall, but which was, 
most immediately and indispensably, required subse- 
quently to that event. 

After the fall, man was in a state, in which the know- 
ledge of himself was of all things the most necessary to him, 
and at the same time that which he would most anxiously 
avoid. His nature was vitiated, and the first step to its 

curse from thee upon the ground. This specious support of a profane view of 
one of the most important parts of Scripture falls, however, soon to the ground, 
if we compare the use of the word "1^2372 in other passages. We shall then 
find that both as a preposition and as a conjunction, it conveys the idea, with 
a view to, with the purpose, by reason of, on account of. So, for instance, 
in Gen. xxvii. 4 ; 2 Sam. x. 3, and in 1 Sam. xii. 22, in which latter passage 
the context, " The Lord will not forsake his people for his great name^s 
sake," altogether precludes the idea of transition. 



ITS MERCIFUL PURPOSE. 33 

restoration was the knowledge of its vitiated condition. 
Where then should he acquire this knowledge? — In 
whom should he observe the baneful effects of his rebellion ? 
In himself? — But self-love, the very root of his sin, 
would for ever prevent him from taking of his own nature 
that impartial view, which would have rendered him hate- 
ful to himself. Or was he to study the vitiated nature of 
man in his fellow-creatures, in his equals ? But the same 
cause which deterred him from self-examination, would 
render him blind likewise to the faults of his fellow-crea- 
ture, as long as their effects did not encroach upon his 
own wishes and desires. As soon, on the contrary, as he 
would feel himself wounded by them, his eyes would be 
opened ; yet, acute as his sight might henceforth be in dis- 
covering them, he would not be able to make correct obser- 
vations, from the excitement of his passions, of his feelings 
of wrath and vengeance, which would inevitably be called 
forth on those occasions. Thus, then, we see, that, neither 
from the observation of himself, nor from that of his 
equals, man could come to that knowledge of his nature 
which was the first and indispensable condition of his being 
ever rescued from his vitiated condition. To exhibit 
that nature and that condition before his eyes in a being 
different from himself, and at the same time in a manner 
which would not arouse his hostility, and thus to enable 
him to take of it a view at once impartial and unimpas- 
sioned, — this was the great object for which the relation 
between parent and child was established. In his own 
offspring, as it were the miniature likeness of himself, he 
was able to perceive the same seeds of moral corruption, 
by which his own nature was infected; and while, on 
one hand, his observation was as much as possible freed 
from the bias of self-love, he was, on the other hand, induced, 
by the interest which an innate feeling of his heart taught 
him to take in the condition of so helpless a being, alto- 
gether thrust upon his mercy, to meditate on the causes of its 
wretchedness and of its perversity, and to penetrate more and 



34 OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. 

more deeply into the mysteries of its state, till at length he 
discovered, to his astonishment, that in the nature of his 
child, he had read the deeply hidden and carefully dis- 
guised secrets of his own breast. Moreover, his endea- 
vours to counteract, in the child, the growth and the mani- 
festation of the evils which he observed in him, as they 
required the exercise of a nobler and holier power than 
his own vitiated nature was possessed of, subjected him, 
in his agency upon the child, unconsciously to the internal 
operations of that divine life and power, the rule and 
guidance of which he had rejected for himself; and, at 
the same time, the position in which he found himself 
thus, with reference to his child, as law-giver, chastiser, 
instructor, and corrector, was the most admirable practi- 
cal illustration of the new dispensation, under which he 
himself was placed by God. Conformably to this, we find 
that, in his perfect manifestation of himself through Jesus 
Christ, God chose the relationship, primitively ordained 
by him with a view to man's restoration, as an image, 
under which to represent his own relation to the Saviour, 
and, through his mediation, to the whole human kind. 

If this be the view which we take of that important sub- 
ject, and I do not see how we can, consistently, either with 
the account of Genesis, or with the whole tenor of Scrip- 
ture, take any other, in what a different light does educa- 
tion appear ! Where is now the curse — where the burden.'' 
It is an untenable ground of argument against this posi- 
tion to say, that education has actually been felt by man as 
a curse, and as a burden. Be it so ; although I should be 
inclined to think, that there may be some exceptions to 
this general state of feeling. Yet supposing, for argu- 
ment's sake, it were felt by every parent and every teacher, 
as a curse, and as a burden only, what would this prove 
but that man has contrived, in this instance, as in so many 
others, to turn into a curse that, which God intended for a 
blessing. There is not one of the good gifts which come 
from above, that has not been, in some way or other 



EDUCATION MADE A CURSE. 35 

more or less extensively, turned, by the perverse spirit of 
man, into a source of misery and suffering, and into an 
occasion of sin to himself. But all this, I repeat it, can only 
prove the perversity of man, and leaves the original pur- 
pose of God unchanged, as in itself, so for every one that 
chooses to receive the gift, in the spirit in which it was 
given. So in education : whilst it is but too certain that 
by far the majority of parents feel it as a curse and as 
a burden, every one is free to convert it into the greatest 
blessing to himself and others, by handling it in a right 
spirit. If the oversight of God's purpose in it have been 
productive of much evil, as I shall be able to prove to you 
that it has, we have on the other hand the comfort of 
knowing, that it may become also a source of much good. 
Let us for a moment compare the position of a parent or 
teacher, who considers it in the former light, with the con- 
dition of one, who takes the latter view of it, and we shall 
soon find practical confirmation of the correctness of our 
principle. 

As regards himself, the parent or teacher who considers 
education as a curse and as a burden, deprives himself of 
one of the richest and purest sources of information con- 
cerning his own character. Wherever his feelings are at 
variance with those of the child, he takes for granted that 
the fault must be with the child ; acting up to tliis his 
persuasion, he increases the causes of discrepancy of feel- 
ing, and, by a consequence morally inseparable from such 
conduct, hardens himself in his own blindness. What 
might have been for him an ample means of self-improve- 
ment, thus becomes a source of constant irritation and 
annoyance, which both, deteriorate his moral state, and 
obscure his apprehension of truth and of the nature of 
things. The injury which he inflicts upon himself is, 
however, but half the mischief he does. If he choose to 
make education a curse and a burthen to himself, that is 
his own business ; but where is his commission to render 
it so to the child, who has no remedy against this perver- 

D 2 



36 HOW TO BE MADE A BLESSING. 

sion of the divine purpose? There is in the child an 
innate feeling, bearing witness of that purpose, and appriz- 
ing the child that it is destined to imbibe and to diffuse 
happiness and joy. Hence the loving and inexpressibly 
endearing smile, with which the unconscious infant greets 
those to whose care it is committed, a sacred trust : hence 
that unsuspecting confidence, that unrestrained openness of 
feeling, with which children are generally inclined to aban- 
don themselves to the guidance of those, with whom they 
associate their earliest impressions, and the mysterious and 
attractive reminiscences of dawning self-consciousness. All 
these pure and tender outlines of a divine influence and 
impulse, which might, by the delicate touch of an educa- 
tion conducted in a Christian spirit, be perfected into the 
full image and stature of faith, are however distorted or 
obliterated by the coarse hand of a despotic, presumptuous, 
unfeeling, and regardless tuition ! Alas ! that ever a pa- 
rent's eye should be so blind to those heavenly beams of 
love, whose purple streaks are shed over the nursling's 
countenance, indicating the approaching rise, within its soul, 
of the sun of everlasting life ; that ever a parent's hand 
should be so unhallowed, as to thrust back into the dark- 
ness of wrath, the being that was born to see the light of 
love ! 

How different would be the fruits of our education, if 
we had humility, wisdom, and love enough to acknowledge 
and to kindle that spark of life in the child ! — if we knew 
how to establish a holy sympathy between the child and 
ourselves, and upon the ground of this sympathy, to make 
education a course of mutual improvement ! How differently 
must a child feel in the hands of a parent, or teacher, who 
is guarded in his mode of proceeding by a severe watchful- 
ness, not over the cliild only, but likewise over himself, by 
a careful attention to the motives from which he acts, as 
well as the effects which he produces, and by a conscious- 
ness that God has appointed him to the important duty of 
educating his child, with a view to give him an opportunity 



DUTIES OF THE FAMILY. 37 

of exploring the nature of man, his actual, as well as his 
true condition, the causes by which he fell into the former, 
and the means by which he may be restored to the latter ! 
With what confidence and willingness of mind would chil- 
dren generally submit to a treatment, over which they felt, 
that justice and love presided ! And how much, on the 
other hand, would parents and teachers themselves be bene- 
fited by that scrupulous attention to their own conduct, 
that constant scrutiny of their own principles and feelings, 
and that diligent study of moral causes and effects, which 
such a course of education required ! Let any one try the 
experiment, and persevere in it long enough to see the fruits 
of it, and I am sure that he will bear testimony to the 
truth of my assertion, that education, howsoever it may 
be felt by the great mass of those who engage in it, 
either from necessity, or by the way of trade, was never 
intended by God otherwise than as a blessing ; and that 
there are few relationships in human society, which, when 
approached in a right spirit, will have a more sanctifying 
influence, and be productive of more pure and unmingled 
delight. 

If, then, with this view of our subject, we ask again, 
" What are the rights and duties of the family, and of 
society at large, respecting the education of children be- 
longing to them.-^"" — it is evident, from the very nature 
of that duty, and its first appointment by the divine decree, 
that it devolves more immediately upon the family. It is 
to the mother's love, to the father's exertions, that the child 
is to look for the satisfaction of all the wants, which its 
complicated nature involves, in so helpless a condition. But 
although the duty of the family be more direct, that 
of society is not less urgent ; it is more remote, but far 
more comprehensive, and, as regards the responsibility of 
the trust, perfectly equal to the other. 

It is upon father and mother that the child prefers his 
Jirst claim to assistance for the attainment of the aim of his 
life ; but if, from some reason or other, that claim be not 



38 WHO ARE THE FATHERLESS. 

satisfied by the parents, the child prefers his ultimate 
claim upon society, and woe unto the nation that turns a 
deaf ear upon it, in whom the fatherless findeth no mercy ! 
Fatherless I call not only that child, whom death has 
deprived of his parents, but that child, also, whose father 
and mother are, by the oppression of penury, and by the 
covetous spirit of society, which extorts and exacts from 
the industrious poor even the uttermost farthing, rendered 
virtually dead to every other duty, but that of toiling for 
a scanty subsistence; and still more that child, whose 
parents are, by the demonlike pride of high life, or the 
brutal degradation of low life, spiritually dead, exhaling a 
pestiferous atmosphere, pregnant with the most deadly 
poison to the souls of men. Here it is, where the duty of 
society comes in, to take the place of the parent, who is 
incapacitated for the discharge of his trust by his circum- 
stances, or by his own moral condition. It is discharging 
but a small part of that obligation, to establish orphan 
homes for those children, who are fatherless by the natural 
death of their parents ; such asylums are much more 
urgently and extensively wanted for those, who are in a 
state of artificial, or of moral orphanage. Is it to be 
credited, that a nation who is so fully apprized, how much 
more precious the life of the soul is than that of the body, 
should have made provision, in some instances abundant 
and splendid provision, for those children who are in 
danger of bodily death, and remain utterly indiiferent to 
the condition of thousands of children, who are daily 
exposed to, or actually suff'ering, the death of the soul .'' 
Is it to be credited ^ or, rather, I should say, is such a 
national neglect of education to be wondered at, when we 
see that, even in those families, which profess to acknow- 
ledge their duty in this respect, and boast of eminent 
wisdom and care in its fulfilment, a degree of indifference 
is practically evinced, which sufficiently proves that, to 
their feelings, education is still a burden ? I appeal to 
your own observation : what is the lot of children generally 



• SELFISHNESS OF PARENTS. 39 

in those families, which combine with the ease and comforts 
of affluent circumstances, a tone of order and morality 
which has gained them the appellation of " well-regulated," 
and, in most instances, also, a religious character. From 
their earliest infancy they are subjected to an unnatural 
separation from those, to whose eyes and lips they were 
intended to cleave, there to imbibe the first moral im- 
pressions ; they are, in deference to the claims of vanity, 
habitually excluded from the apartment in which their 
parents dwell, and, in fact, from the whole house, with the 
exception of that one room, generally not the best, nor the 
most healthy, which is set apart for them. In five cases, 
out of ten, they are kept in this exile during the greater 
part of the day, and admitted to the presence of their 
parents only on some emergencies ; and these are invariably 
just those moments in which their absence would be most 
desirable. The father, whom, during dinner, the sight of 
his children would disgust, or their noise annoy, wishes, 
after the cloth is removed, to relieve the dulness of a soli- 
tary bottle by a little fun with them ; they are accord- 
ingly sent for, and treated with some of the dessert- 
sweetmeats, that the moral ground of affection may be 
effectually destroyed, and the child linked to his parent by 
the more powerful charm of sensual appetite ; or, there is 
some visitor, who asks for the " sweet darlings," not from 
any interest in the children, whom she would rather not 
be troubled with, but from an anxiety to gratify the sense- 
less vanity of the mother ; then the nursery bell is rung, 
and the poor victims of fashion are introduced for a 
moment, to make their parade by a stiff courtesy, an 
answer put into their mouths, or a thoughtless repetition 
of some silly nursery rhymes, learned by rote, amidst floods 
of tears. After this performance, and some flat compli- 
ments paid to their petty accomplishments and their pretty 
faces, they are dismissed from a scene which could be 
acted, without omitting any of the material incidents, and 
with far greater propriety, if the lady of the house were to 



40 CHILDREN LEFT TO SERVANTS. 

exhibit, instead of Master Henry and Miss Harriet, her 
Puggy or her Polly. 

This unnatural separation between parent and child, 
from which the selfish feelings of the parents only procure 
occasional relief, is, however, by no means the most 
disgraceful proof of the indifference, in which the class of 
society alluded to, remain to the claims of one of their most 
important duties. The character of ^those, to whom they 
abandon their children during the greater part of the day, 
testifies still more strongly of that inhuman and ungodly 
spirit, by which, in the midst of professions of philanthropy 
and christian charity, the affairs of daily life are regulated. 
I am at a loss to know, which of the two deserves the severer 
censure, the tone in which servants are treated, and the 
state of degradation to which they are reduced ; or the fact, 
that to the influence of such despised and such degraded ser- 
vants, the tender souls of children are exposed. These two 
profanations of the sanctuary of domestic life, seem to be of 
one piece. I have observed, at least, that wherever ser- 
vants are treated with that kindness and attention to their 
well-being, which is due to them as out fellow-creatures, 
there the children of the family are, although not excluded 
from their presence, yet never wholly given up to them ; 
and, on the other hand, that the extent of separation which 
takes place between parents and children, bears an exact 
proportion to the degree of haughtiness in the tone of the 
master and mistress, and of submissive brutality in the 
servants. Under all circumstances, I should object to 
children's being left to servants, not because they are of an 
inferior rank, or because they are hirelings, — distinctions 
of this kind cannot too late be introduced in education, — 
but simply, because the parents are more naturally their 
nurses and their keepers ; because they have a more 
immediate calling to take care of them ; because an innate 
feeling of duty dwells in their bosoms ; because a far 
greater weight of responsibility lies upon them ; and be- 
cause they have stronger inducements, as well as ampler 



DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 41 

means, to enlighten their minds on the subject. If, then, 
even with servants of a morally unexceptionable character, 
the transfer of the parent's duty upon them is liable to 
objection, how much more must it be so, with a debased 
and corrupted race of servants ? And in no country, I 
apprehend, is there a more debased and more corrupted 
race to be found, than in this, — owing to the hauteur with 
which they are treated, and from which other fruits cannot 
be expected. It is not natural that a human being should 
consent to be treated as if he belonged to a different species, 
to be used as a machine for a variety of purposes, without 
being ever regarded otherwise, than as that machine ; seen, 
and yet not perceived ; spoken to, and yet not noticed ; 
to be condemned to stand, earless, eyeless, motionless, and 
speechless, until the look or word of command restore to 
him the use of his senses and limbs for a specific purpose ; 
to be considered and dealt with, in the parlour, as a piece of 
furniture, or in the kitchen, as a utensil, and to be attended 
to in his wants and wishes, or cultivated in his affections, 
no more, if not less, than the dog or the horse, upon whom 
it is his duty to wait, in the master's name : — I say it is not 
natural that a human being; should consent to endure all this 
degradation, at the hand of his fellow-creature, without a 
compensation which, in his estimate, makes up for the loss of 
what no man should ever be tempted to part with, his human 
capacity. And what can that compensation be ? It cannot, 
in the very nature of things, be a moral one : for the last 
remnant of taste for any mental or moral gratification, 
would render the condition, by the endurance of which it 
is supposed to be purchased, perfectly insufferable. The 
compensation for the conditional setting aside of the fact, 
that the servant has an immortal soul as well as his master, 
and is his fellow creature in every respect, can only be one 
which is calculated to make the victim of human pride and 
vanity, really forget that, which he is under the obligation 
of affecting not to know ; it can only be the high wages of 
Mammon, and the sensual enjoyments which can be bought 



42 DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 

with them, and which too often the master's sensuality 
presents in a more alluring light. Are we then to wonder 
that our servants are covetous and vicious, when we have 
taken care to exclude from their bosoms every nobler feel- 
ing, which might be a safeguard to them against the snares 
of evil ; and if, by way of reconciling them to such degrada- 
tion, we hold out direct temptations to covetousness and 
to vice ? The feelings of humanity and religion have, after a 
long slumber of dulness, been aroused to an unequivocal 
condemnation of negro slavery, which is a thraldom of the 
body more than of the soul ; but it may well be questioned, 
whether negro slavery is in itself worse, and it must at all 
events be admitted, that it is far more consistent, than that 
slavery, which I have been describing, which, under the 
forms of freedom, demoralizes the soul, robs it of all liberty 
and of all dignity, and, by the bait of licentious self-indul- 
gence, entices man to descend, of his own accord, below the 
level of the brute. 

That such a relationship should be endured by beings 
bearing the features of human nature, that it should be 
inflicted by men calling themselves Christians, is a disgrace 
to the land in which fashion has sanctioned the abuse ; it 
is a matter, both of astonishment and of grief, to a mind 
untainted by the contagion of that fashion. But that to 
beings so artfully degraded and corrupted, to beings held 
in such alienation and contempt, parents should entrust 
their offspring, the tender objects of unremitting love and 
anxiety, is an abomination, which the sight of the fact only 
can make credible to the uninitiated in the mysteries of 
human perversity, and to which nothing, but utter thought- 
lessness and moral indolence, can ever reconcile the minds 
and hearts of those, who commit so glaring a violation of 
their responsible position, as the instruments appointed by 
Providence, to convey to the child the blessings of time 
and eternity. Can a stronger proof be given of the low 
estimation in which parents hold their children, than that 
they put them under the control and care of those, upon 



NATIONAL SPREAD OF THE EVIL. 43 

whom they never cast any other looks but those of pride 
and contempt, and with whom they never exchange a word 
except in the tone of command or of anger ? — that they 
render not only the present existence, but likewise the 
future welfare of their offspring, dependant on the in- 
fluence of those whom they scorn to recognise as their 
fellow-creatures ? 

If these evils were confined to the higher ranks of so- 
ciety, they might be passed over without much notice, as 
inevitable consequences of that vanity and folly, of which 
the great of this world hardly ever divest themselves ; but 
when we see them rapidly spreading among the middling 
classes, they assume a far more alarming aspect. They 
then become, in the full sense of the word, national evils, 
inasmuch as they infect the vitals of society, from which 
the life of the whole social body takes its origin, and 
which, if in a healthy state, always tends to correct the 
diseases, under which the upper and lower extremities may 
labour. This salutary reaction from the middling classes 
upon the higher and lower ranks, can no longer be ex- 
pected, if we see them giving way to the same evils, by 
which the others are overwhelmed. If we see that in the 
middling classes the interest in pecuniary pursuits, as fully 
absorbs the attention of parents, as the inexorable necessity 
of a hard-earned livelihood does among the poor, or that 
the selfish pride of fashion renders their children an en- 
cumbrance, of which they rid themselves, by consigning the 
charge of them to the hands of domestic slaves, — as is the 
case among the rich, — how then shall we any longer hope, 
that, by the better education of the middling classes, the 
higher ranks will be restrained in the indulgence of their 
follies, and forced, by the fear of sinking lower in the 
balance of society, to exert themselves for their own im- 
provement .''—or what reason have we to expect, that those 
who refrain their hands from the duty of educating their 
children, will stretch them forth in charity, to provide for 
the education of the poor ? To whom, then, shall a man 



44 THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION HOPELESS. 

direct his voice, when pleading the cause of the infant 
forlorn and forgotten, in the midst of a community in 
which the boast of improvement, of charity, of Christian 
exertion, re-echoes from meeting to meeting, and from street- 
corner to street-corner, suffocating, in the clamour of self- 
approbation, the feeble cries of the helpless, whose very 
condition is a witness against the Pharisaical hypocrisy of 
this generation ? 

And yet, hopeless as the cause appears to be, it must 
not be given up. Neither must we allow our hands to 
sink down in idleness, nor must we lean upon the broken 
reeds of half- way improvements. A remedy is required, — 
I care not how limited the extent of its application, pro- 
vided it go to the whole root of the evil, and provided it 
be founded upon the root and source of all good. The 
introduction of such a remedy lies with those individuals, 
who have arrived at abetter conviction on the subject ; for 
as long as society is constituted upon principles, as uncon- 
genial with Christianity, as those which are the ground- 
work of most of the existing institutions, no reform can be 
anticipated to originate with society as a body, however 
ample the outward means may be, which it has at com- 
mand. For I do think it an inadmissible plea, that there 
are not funds sufficient to provide for the education of 
every child born in the land. Not to mention the nume- 
rous charitable foundations, the notorious misapplication 
of many of which, has become the subject of parliamentary 
inquiry ; there is the enormous sum of seven millions and 
a half levied each year, in England alone, under the head 
of poor rates, of which by far the greater proportion goes 
towards the support of such paupers, as are encumbered 
with children. But the question is, whether or not, the 
present mode of distributing parish relief be calculated to 
ensure to the children those temporal and moral advan- 
tages, which might be provided for them, at such an ex- 
pense ? That this question is unfortunately to be answered 
in the negative, must be agreed upon by all that are in the 



PECUNIARY MEANS. PAUPERISM. 45 

least conversant with the present state of parochial admi- 
nistration, and with its demoralizing influence upon the 
poor. There is no reason, however, why the same expen- 
diture should not be applied in such a manner, as to make 
provision for the proper education of pauper children, 
and, at the same time, to attempt the improvement of the 
parents themselves, partly by interesting them in the 
arrangements made for their children, and partly by en- 
couraging them in industrious pursuits. But to produce 
this effect, parish relief ought to be proffered as a gift of 
Christian charity, with a careful attention and regard to 
the peculiar situation, and the consequent wants, of every 
individual that receives it, — instead of being, as it now is, 
tendered in a spirit of contempt, as a boon extorted from 
an unwilling hand, by the extreme of necessity ; in other 
words, the parish ought to go in search of their poor^ 
rather than paupers in quest of the parish. I am perfectly 
aware of the ridicule, to which this view of the subject lies 
open, on account of the singular contrast which it forms 
with the present state and tone of society. But I can 
easily bear the scornful sneer of the indifferent, as well as 
the complacent smile of over-prudent benevolence, — being 
well conscious, that the ridicule arises from the circum- 
stance, that the mode proposed is founded upon a truly 
Christian principle : whereas the present practice, with 
many more of a similar description, has for its basis a 
system of society essentially anti-christian. All I desire, 
is, that the subject may not be passed over with a smile ; 
but that, before dismissing it from your minds, you may 
give to yourselves a satisfactory answer to the question : 
which is more conformable to the Christian character, that 
spontaneous charity which seeks the distressed in their own 
abode, and gives to every one accordingly as he wants, 
without asking, — or that unwilling assistance, which is 
given, because extorted, in self-defence against the annoying 
intrusion of pauperism ? And if that question be settled, as 
it easily may be, then I would farther ask : whether the 



46 POLICE. PRISONS. 

circumstance of a number of Christians being united toge- 
ther in a body, can at all diminish the duties, which indi- 
vidually devolve upon them, or whether, on the contrary, 
those duties are not more binding, in proportion as their 
strength is increased by their union ? 

But to return to our subject. The poor-rates are not the 
only head of public expenditure, which, if applied in a 
more judicious manner, might answer the purposes which 
it now does, and at the same time be made available for 
the discharge of that important duty, the neglect of which 
is rendering the state of society every day more embarrass- 
ing. What sums are not expended every year for 
police establishments, criminal prosecutions, prisons, 
houses of correction, and many more of those admirable 
institutions, of which we are so proud on the score of 
public justice, and of which, on the score of Christian 
love, we ought to be so deeply ashamed ? It is true, I 
grant, that we cannot dispense with them all at once, — that 
they are necessary evils. They are, however, evils, not 
only of urgent necessity, but also of increasing magni- 
tude. We are approaching, with rapid strides, to a state 
of things, in which the maintenance of what is called 
public security, will almost amount to an impossibility, 
whilst the resources of society will be inadequate to the 
supply of the means, which this useless eiFort will absorb. 
Some efficient measures must therefore be adopted for the 
prevention of those crimes and vices, which we now vainly 
endeavour to suppress, by retaliating evil upon them. 
Instead of institutions for the apprehending, sentencing, 
and executing those criminals, who are, after all, but the 
victims of the present system, we must form establishments, 
in which the children of the destitute, of the vicious, and 
of the criminal, may be educated to a contrary course of 
life, and to different circumstances. The means at present 
expended upon measures of public vengeance, by which 
the evil is only increased and multiplied, must, by degrees, 
be appropriated to measures of public charity, by which 



EVERY MAN MUST SUBSIST. 47 

the rising generation will be preserved from growing up 
in such deep misery, ignorance, and corruption, as the 
present is involved in. And although this may require, in 
the first instance, perhaps a greater outlay, it will so 
amply repay itself in the end, that even on the mere ground 
of economy, such a course would recommend itself. For 
it is a great delusion to think, that society has the choice, 
whether or not, it will provide for all its members ; each 
individual that grows up in it, must find a livelihood 
somehow or other ; if he be not put in the way to earn it in 
a lawful manner, he will seek it by unlawful means ; if he 
be not taught to lead a sober life, he will lead a life of dis- 
sipation, but still he will live ; if society refuse to take 
notice of him, as an object of its care and protection, he 
will force it to notice him, as an object of its self-defence and 
its vengeance. Thus then it is clear, that society can neither 
avoid giving a livelihood, to whomsoever Prov-idence has 
chosen to place in its bosom ; nor can it help devoting some 
attention, and incurring some expense, for those whom the 
circumstances, in which they are placed by birth, render 
dependant on public assistance. Would it not, then, be 
infinitely wiser that society should give that attention, and 
incur that expense willingly, at a time when it has it in its 
power, to make them available for the proper education of 
the individual to an honest and sober life, and to a useful 
participation in the labours, which the maintenance of 
society requires, than, in the vain hope of evading that 
sacrifice, to leave the individual in a condition, in which he 
will infallibly become an enemy ? Would it not be wiser, 
at an early period, to attach him to society by the ties of 
gratitude, than to punish him, when it is too late, for an 
alienation, which was but the natural consequence of his 
destitution ? 

But if, as a mere question of policy, it cannot be denied 
that the present system is unwise in the extreme, what 
aspect will this subject assume, when we bring it to the 
test of Christian principles ? Christian, did I say ? 



48 OUR LAWS ANTI-CHRISTIAN. 

Truly, I should feel satisfied, if, as a first step towards 
improvement, we could mould our criminal laws upon the 
much calumniated principles of the Jewish legislation. 
Short as they fall of that moral sublimity, which charac- 
terizes the Christian dispensation, they are infinitely 
superior to those inhuman and irreligious, those perfectly 
Pagan principles, upon which our present laws are founded, 
however much we may boast of our Christian state, and 
its Christian institutions. We use, or rather abuse, Christ's 
gospel, it is true, in a manner which savours more of super- 
stition than of religion, more of blasphemy than of reve- 
rence, as a check upon smugglers, as a guarantee for the 
correctness of custom-house transactions. As far as we 
can make the name of Christ a tool, for the better adminis- 
tration of Mammon, so far, it is true, we are Christians, 
but no farther! Open that book, the leather cover of 
which is, by force of the law, kissed millions of times for 
pecuniary and other temporal purposes, and read one of 
its chief commands, — that which was declared by our 
Saviour to be the second, and like unto the first : " Thou 
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ;*" — read its practical 
explanation : " All things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them ;" — and, taking 
the condition of a child, which is born in one of the haunts 
of vice and misery, in which every town in this kingdom 
abounds, ask yourselves : — Where is the man in this Chris- 
tian state, — from the highest that sitteth upon the throne, 
down to the lowest that beareth the staff' of his power — 
from the primate that weareth the mitre, and proclaimeth 
the law to the congregation, down to the meanest parish 
clerk, who thoughtlessly echoes, " Lord, incline our 
hearts to keep this law !" — where, I ask, is the man among 
them all, who, if he were, as by God's providence he might 
be, in the place of that child, would wish to be done unto, 
as that child is done unto, by virtue of our laws and insti- 
tutions ; who would not wish to be rescued from his dan- 
gerous situation, and brought under the care of Christian 



CASE OF A DESTITUTE CHILD. 49' 

benevolence, and under the influence of Christian educa- 
tion ; and yet where is the man to be found, that Avill do, 
or cause to be done, unto the child, that which he would 
clearly wish to be done unto him, if he Avere in its place ? 
What are the few paltry, and yet so much trumpeted 
exertions, which are now and then made for the supply of 
a partial and utterly inadequate remedy, when measured 
by this simple standard of our duty ? And yet happy 
would it be for us, if we had no other sins to answer for, 
than these sins of omission ! 

Let not our attention be diverted for the present by those 
palliatives, those substitutes of Christian education, on the 
efficacy of which we place too much reliance, and the merits 
of which, I hope, we shall have another opportunity of 
discussing. But let us keep in view, on one hand, what 
society, as a Christian institution, owes to every child, as 
one who has a claim to, as well as a capacity for, the re- 
ception of all the blessings of Christianity, and of Chris- 
tian civilization — as one who is born into this world for the 
express purpose of being made holy, and, through holi- 
ness, everlastingly happy ; and let us examine, on the 
other hand, what society does for those destitute children, 
who, having no visible advocate, able or willing to prefer 
their claims, are comprehended in that powerful appeal of 
our Lord to every one that professeth his name : " Whoso 
shall receive one such little child in my name, receivetli 
me." To form a correct estimate of the influence which 
such a child receives from society, we must, however, not 
merely cast a glance upon the more marked periods of his 
life, when his transgressions bring him under the arm . of 
human justice, but we must view the whole of his exist- 
ence from the beginning ; we must transfer ourselves into 
his circumstances, and follow the course of his life through 
its different stages. Let us, then, lose sight for a moment 
of all the advantages which we have enjoyed from our 
earliest infancy, and by which that state of feeling, and 
those habits of thinking, have been developed in us, which 



50 CASE or A DESTITUTE CHILD. 

lead us, in many cases unconsciously, and frequently even 
without any moral exertion on our part, to fulfil the com- 
mon duties of life, and to maintain an upright character, 
at least in the worldly sense of the word ; let us fancy 
ourselves in the condition of a child, bom of vicious and 
criminal parents, in one of those lanes or alleys, in which 
the physical and the moral atmosphere are equally cor- 
rupt. What will be the lot of such a child ? The tender 
and unconscious look of the suckling is never met by an 
eye, from which it may drink the gladdening rays of love ; 
never does the soothing influence of parental tenderness 
calm its soul in the moment of irritation ; the brutal glare 
of sensual satiety is the loveliest object it ever beholds ; 
the irritations of its nature are many, in consequence of 
the neglect which it suffers, and which must inevitably be 
productive both of bodily disease and of mental indis- 
position, whilst every manifestation of those fretful feel- 
ings, which arise from a want of all that is wholesome to 
the body and to the soul, is repressed, or rather provoked 
at an increased rate, by rude severity or wild passion. As 
soon as he is able to use his limbs, he is cast off" by the 
unnatural mother, who hates his existence as an interrup- 
tion to the full indulgence of her vicious habits; and a new 
epoch of his life begins, during which he passes his time 
chiefly in the streets, with associates more advanced in 
age, and more deeply initiated in the mysteries of sin ; 
and the filth with which his body is covered, is but a faint 
analogy to the moral filth, which is thus gathering up in 
his soul, at that period of life when the mind and feelings 
of man are first expanding, to receive with consciousness 
the impressions of the surrounding world, and when, 
from the susceptibility of his whole being, the nature of 
those impressions is almost finally decisive, at least for 
this life, of his character and purs'uits. The parental 
influence during that period is almost entirely confined to 
daily brutality towards the child, which increases, in pro- 
portion as the child acquires more power to provoke and 



HIS FIRST CRIME. 51 

to resist it ; and it is but a sad compensation for this 
habitual barbarity, that the child is occasionally dragged 
along by his parent to the public-house, and allowed to 
partake of that enervating and brutalizing dram, of which 
a Christian government encourages the extensive consump- 
tion, bartering away for two millions of revenue the health 
of a whole population, and the morality, not to say the 
salvation, of millions of souls. In tliis manner the child 
may grow up to the age of seven or eight years, without 
ever coming into immediate contact with, or falling under 
the direct notice of, any one else but the associates of his 
parents and their offspring ; and if it should so happen, 
that a parish or a police-officer penetrates into that world of 
misery and vice in which the child lives, for the purpose of 
a seizure, an ejection, or an apprehension, the effect which 
his appearance will produce upon the child's imagination, 
is not calculated to impress him with the better state of 
that other world, from which he is an emissary, or to 
awaken in his mind the idea or feeling of any thing more 
lovely, more benevolent, more holy. A ghastly fear of the 
delegates of some mysterious poAver, which is to all that 
know it, an object of hatred and terror, is the only trace 
that such an event can leave behind in the child's 
heart. But the time is fast approaching, when he will 
have an opportunity afforded him, by his own experience, 
of conceiving a more distinct notion of that power. He 
has now attained sufficient strength of body, and, as a 
practical consequence of his mode of education, a sufficient 
facility of disguise, and readiness for lying, to be trusted 
into the world. The time is come for him when he must 
earn his own bread, if he have not already been turned to 
account, by being let on hire to beggars, or sent out on 
begging errands himself. He is encouraged in his first 
pilfering expedition by his older associates, whose boldness, 
adroitness, and good luck, excite at once his admiration, 
his envy, and his emulation — or, perhaps, introduced in a 
less buoyant manner to a career, the close of which is so 

E 2 



52 HIS FIRST EXPERIENCE OF HUMAN JUSTICE. 

mournful — he is stimulated by hunger, nakedness, and 
cold. But whatever the stimulants may be, it would 
require a prodigy of morality — such as his education can 
never produce— to resist, not a mere temptation, but a 
positive impulse to crime. The voice of his conscience is 
. silent on the occasion, for it has never been called into 
action, and is, by this time, driven back into the deepest 
recesses of his heart, and buried under a mass of selfish- 
ness, love of sin, and evil propensities of every kind, which 
have been nurtured up. Thus he commits the first act 
which enlists him, in the eyes of the world, among the bad 
characters. Now, let us suppose, that the happiest chance — 
at least what our moralists and legislators would call so — 
turns up for him ; he is caught up in the very act, and 
dragged before a police office. Imagine a child, brought 
up in the manner I have described, — and how many hun- 
dreds of children are trained up in exactly the same situ- 
ation—entering the office at Bow-street, or some other 
police office of the metropolis ; he is pushed to the bar 
through a crowd of persons of the lowest character, to 
whom the daily display of similar immorality is a feast for 
their souls. Here there is no expression of sorrow for the 
pollution of so young a mind, of sympathy for the misery 
which his appearance bears witness of, nor that look of 
soul-stirring indignation, which the idea of his transgres- 
sion might draw forth from the eye even of the benevolent, 
if forgetting for a moment the unhappy circumstances of 
the case. All that he meets with there, is the fiendlike 
merriment of the spectators, and the cold forms of the law, 
with which he is received by the magistrate, or his subal- 
terns. He is then examined ; witnesses come forward 
against him, in whose depositions, it may be, he recognizes 
as much treachery and falsehood as truth ; and he is 
ultimately committed for trial, or — which will be far less 
prejudicial to him, because it preserves him from the con- 
tamination of the prison — he is harangued by the magis- 
trate, and some slight chastisement ordered to be inflicted 



EFFECT WHICH IT HAS UPON HIS MIND. 53 

on him. Now, suppose the magistrate to be the humanest 
person that ever sat on the bench, — suppose him to be 
moved by a real feeling of grief at the idea of such early 
delinquency, — what effect can his exhortation produce upon 
the young thief, to whom, probably, even on account of 
the unusual language, the whole is as unintelligible, as an 
argument on morality in Chinese might be to any of us ? 
All that he will gather from the transaction is, that the 
person on the bench is the one which commands over all 
the others in the place ; that he is displeased with what 
he has done ; and that he has the power of getting those 
whipped with whom he is displeased. But there is nothing 
in the most impressive exhortation which can be delivered 
on such an occasion, under the forms of law, from a magis- 
trate's bench, that is in any way calculated, to lead the 
boy to a conviction of the unlawfulness of his act, or that 
at all opens to him the prospect of a different career, with 
sufficient inducements to quit the one, to which habit has 
attached him, for one so new, and so replete with self- 
denials ; or holds out to him even the bare physical possi- 
bility of subsisting in a different one. The only practical 
inference, therefore, which a boy can draw from this trans- 
action, and the subsequent whipping, is, that it is a bad 
thing to be discovered in thieving, and that he must be 
more careful, in future, in the exercise of his calling. And 
that this is the inference, which most of the unfortunate 
children, placed under these circumstances, draw from 
their first; experience of the administration of public justice, 
is sufficiently proved by the sequel of their history, which 
is invariably to be met with in the records of criminality. 
But let us see the boy again at liberty, after the public 
authorities have performed upon him, what is deemed their 
duty. What change has been produced in his feelings ? 
His evil propensities have not been diminished ; it is well 
if they have not been increased by the addition of a feeling 
of revenge. Or, has any thing been done to enlighten him 
respecting his condition ? All he can have learnt is, that 



54 CONTINUANCE OF HIS CAREER. 

he was not sufficiently cunning. Or, are his circumstances 
improved, temptations removed, or encouragements to good 
conduct held out ? No ; he returns exactly to the same 
position, in which distress, the command of his parents, — 
enforced by the same means which society uses for the 
demonstration of what is called right, in a police office, or 
a court of law, — and the cheering example of his associates, 
will again urge him on to the commission of crimes, sup- 
posing even that his own inclinations would dictate a con- 
trary course. The warning he has received has rendered 
him more cautious, and he may now go on for years, earn- 
ing his livelihood by the same means, without being ever 
caught in Jlagranti. At last, however, he will be caught 
up again, and again brought under the influence of social 
institutions. Let us suppose, again, the happiest state of 
things which can be imagined for him, under existing cir- 
cumstances. Let us suppose, that a feeling of the misery 
and degradation, which attaches to his mode of living, has 
occasionally got lioldupon his heart ; that, by some provi- 
dential occurrence he has been brought into contact with 
influences, by which his attention has been directed to the 
possibility of a better condition, both as regards his moral 
nature, and his circumstances ; let us suppose that confine- 
ment, previously to his final commitment by the magis- 
trate, or afterwards, to his trial, has abated the buoyancy 
of his spirits ; that he has become inclined for reflexion, 
and accessible to the kind exertions of some of those 
benevolent Christians who visit the prisons, to make 
the saving health known, where it is most wanted ; 
— suppose all this to have worked together, to bring 
his soul to a sort of crisis, in which he is ready 
to throw off the bondage of iniquity, and to begin 
a new life. Suppose all this to be the case, does the 
law wait for the development of this crisis, by which a 
soul may be saved ? No ! it continues in its cold, heart- 
less, formal, and rigorous course ; he is brought up for 
re -examination, or committed, or brought up for trial, 



HIS REPENTANCE UNAVAILING. 55 

not as his state of mind may render advisable, but as the 
course of the law dictates. Or does the law, and the power 
that executes the law, take his state of mind into account, 
when deciding upon his fate .'' No ! Suppose he confess 
his guilt, melting in tears of repentance — suppose he ex- 
press his willingness, his determination to amend his life — 
suppose the magistrate to be moved, and to hesitate about 
the course which he is to adopt ; one of the tools of that 
heartless system will step forward — " Don't trust his pro- 
mises, your worship, he is a notorious thief ; young as he 
is, we know him to be an old practitioner." This testi- 
mony, coming from such a quarter, is sufficient to destroy 
the last chance that remained for the youth, to turn from 
his evil ways. He is fully committed ; and if his repen- 
tance should last till the time of his trial, it will be of no 
avail. His sorrow for the past, his anxious look out for 
the future, are not regarded by those who — blasphemously, 
as they do it in the name of all that is sacred — presume to 
decide what he deserves, and what is to become of him. 
The circumstantial evidence of the fact is all, that these 
judges of unrighteous judgment attend to ; and, as if there 
was no such thing as atonement and mercy, as if they 
needed it not themselves, nor could imagine that any one 
else needed it, they pronounce the " sentence of the law" 
upon the unhappy youth. Such is the spirit of our insti- 
tutions, that even men, who in private affairs show them- 
selves to be pious, just, and followers after that which is 
good, nevertheless unhesitatingly join in those, I repeat it, 
blasphemous, unrighteous, anti-Christian performances. It 
will be said : mercy may still be extended to him ; for there 
is a difference between pronouncing and executing a sen- 
tence. Be it so ; this may alter the case for the social 
conscience, whom it furnishes with a sophistical excuse ; 
but it does not alter it, at least not for the better, with 
regard to the individual, with whose feelings society thus 
plays, as the cat does with the mouse. The sentence is 
not pronounced with a view that it should have no effect ; 



56 INFLUENCE OF PRISONS. 

and unfortunately, the effect does not fail to be produced. 
The repenting sinner has found his fellow-creatures turn- 
ing a deaf ear upon his repentance, upon his better deter- 
minations, and his promises: an unforgiving spirit has 
been shown, and the effect of this can be no other than to 
harden him. His better feelings are inevitably chilled, 
and he returns to his prison with feelings very different 
from those, with which he came to take his trial. The 
consequence is, that he now prefers the society of his 
wicked companions, to the conversation with those, in 
whom he had confidence, when he felt a favourable change 
operated in his disposition, but whom he now shuns the 
more, the more they had succeeded in exercising influence 
over him. The exertions of Christian benevolence are in- 
terrupted ; the edge of love and truth is blunted ; and 
when a mitigation of punishment is announced to him, he 
will be more induced to murmur against what -remains of 
his sentence, and to consider the alleviation of it as a 
happy escape, that has turned up for him by chance, than, 
in resigned submission to his fate, to persevere in his 
good determination, and to turn the time of trial and pro- 
bation, which is imposed upon him, to account for the im- 
provement of his life. But whilst society, by this unfeeling 
conduct, positively obstructs in him the rise of those feel- 
ings, which could bias him to a reformation of his character, 
it surrounds him with every influence, that is calculated to 
foster in him the growth of sin. Prisons, houses of cor- 
rection, and other similar institutions, are so many col- 
lections of moral monstrosities ; and the contamination 
and infection among such a number of bad characters, 
brought into such close contact, must necessarily be more 
extensive and more dangerous, than that which takes place 
amongst them when at large ; for the restraint by which 
they are prevented from the outward performance of their 
evil thoughts, so far from being a check upon evil com- 
munication, operates rather as a stimulus to it. So that 
the youth who enters the place, with a heart disposed for 



MURDER IN LEGAL FORMS. 5^ 

evil, and, to a certain degree, familiar with the practice of 
it, leaves it, at the expiration of the time of his confine- 
ment, ten times more corrupted, and eager to put into 
practice the additional knowledge which he has gained. 
His situation is, at the same time, as devoid of all honest 
resources as ever ; it is not only hopeless, but desperate. 

His inevitable fate is a renewed course of immorality, in 
which he will be interrupted again and again by the arm 
of human justice ; and to what end ? — to save him from de- 
struction ? No, but to avenge more and more cruelly 
upon him the consequences of that state of destitution and 
degradation, of which, culpable as he may be, by far the 
greater guilt rests on society itself. Thus he is driven on 
in the career of delinquency from step to step, till he is 
at length ripe for that last act of barbarity, which the 
community perpetrates upon its abandoned members, to 
whom it has never stretched out a hand of love. Is this 
the education, which a Christian society owes to its desti- 
tute children ? Is this the discharge of that sacred trust, 
which renders the community responsible for the temporal 
and eternal welfare of every one of its members .'' Whence 
does society derive the right of taking bloody vengeance 
upon those unfortunate beings, whose chief crime is, to have 
too well answered, by their conduct, the means adopted, 
either with the silent consent, or by direct interposition of 
society, for the formation of their character ? If it is a 
bloody deed for an individual, to take away the life of his 
fellow-creature, is the deed less bloody, because society 
perpetrates it, because it is not an act of rashness, but of 
premeditation — an act systematically resolved upon, syste- 
matically executed, systematically repeated ? Or is it less 
bloody because society has, by its neglect on one hand, and by 
its oppression on the other, previously murdered the souls 
of those, whom it thus prematurely hurries into eternity, to 
stand before the judgment seat of God .'' Does not society 
apprehend, that whilst its victims will have, to account 
for their own transgressions, the very history of their sins 



58 IXLAWFll.XKSS OF CAVITAL VIXISHMKNT. 

will be a loiul accusation a^jainst those, who had the power, 
but not the will, to Wcouie instriniiental in their rescue, 
{vnd who used the authority, given them from on high, not 
to save, but to ruin souls ? Do they consider, that the 
subtle forms of the law will leave no subterfuge in the 
eve of Him, whose holiness will lay bare the iniquity of 
human justice — that '* murder" will be Avritten in flaming 
chiiracters upon every such deed, which is now seiiled with 
the seal of lawful authority? Does society think it a 
sufficient compensation for the neglect of that education, 
to which every individual has a claim, that the victims of 
its seltish indiflerence are, by the convulsive fears of death, 
harassed into a feeling of repentance, the sincerity of 
"which it must be impossible, for an entire novice in reli- 
gious knowledge, under such circumstances, to ascertain ? 
Or is it deemed a satisfactory atonement for the most cri- 
minal violation of God's law. and for the blasphemous 
abuse, made of his name, for the purposes of iniquity, that 
a chaplain is appointed to read the buriid service on those 
mournful occasions ? 

It would be foreign to my present purpose to enter 
more deeply into the question of the lawfulness or unlaAv- 
fulness of capital punishment, aiid the general consistency 
or inconsistency of tlie existing criminal laws with the 
Christian covenant. But as the subject has inevitably 
been introduced, I may, before concluding, be allowed to 
add a few remarks, respecting tlie chief sources of that 
alarming want of faith and love, which society displays in 
its present conduct towards transgressing bretlireji. The 
advocates of the present svstem appeal to the authority of 
the Old Testament, in which capital punislmient is enacted. 
I will not now ask, whether we are in the same position, in 
which the Jews were, as an elect people, separated unto 
the Lord, and destined to preserve the purity of his wor- 
ship in the midst of idolatrous nations ; — or why it is, that, 
whilst we reject for our own practice all tlie rest of the 
Mosaic legislation, which had tliat strict separation for its 



HUMAXITY OF THE JEWISH LAW. 59 

object, we adhere so scrupulously to that part, which fur- 
nishes us with a pretext for sanguinary enactments ? Xo*" 
will I urge the important distinction between the covenant 
of fear and bondage, and that of freedom and of love. I 
will content myself with contrasting our laws with the 
laws of Moses ; I will not raise our standard so high, as to 
look among us for Christian laws. I repeat it, I shall be 
satisfied, if we be found to have enacted none, that are 
unjeuish. 

Against what transgressions does the Jewish law enact 
capital punishment ? Against none but those that profane 
the temple of the Lord and his holy things, and those that 
defile the individual or the community. To preserve 
purity is the only purpose of capital punishment, as enacted 
by divine authority. How does this matter stand with 
us ? WTiat do our laws enact concemincr the man who 
profaneth the Lord's sanctuary, or breaketh his sabbath, 
or defileth his neighbour's wife .'' Are these deemed worthy 
of death among us ? I do not wish that thev should be so 
punished ; but I cannot see why of those offences, which are 
considered most culpable in the divine code, we should 
make lightest ; why those transgressions, which could not, 
in the institutions established by God, be blotted out 
unless by the blood of the offender, should be atoned for, 
among us, with money, the great idol and scape-goat of 
our institutions ; whilst for that very money's sake we do 
not scruple, to take away man's life, which God has never, 
either ordained or permitted, to be taken away for any 
earthlv thing .•• If the divine legislation for the elect 
nation be our pattern, why do we not abide by those clear 
and humane enactments, which the Jewish law contains, 
respecting offences against property ? Will any one dare 
to say, that those laws are not applicable to our state of 
things ? Very likely, indeed I But what does that prove, 
but that a state of society, for which the laws of God are 
too humane, is an ungodly state, one which ought on no 
account to be endured without reproof, and, by those to 



60 SEVERITY OF THE ENGLISH LAW. 

whom power is given, without improvement. Here is the 
source of the severity of our criminal laws ; our love to 
Mammon causes us to forget the love, we owe to our fel- 
low-creatures ; our attachment to our earthly treasures 
makes us unmindful of those heavenly treasures, of which, 
in so many thousands of children, we are appointed the 
guardians. Our anxiety to preserve every shilling in every 
man''s pocket, is the great obstacle to our preserving Christ 
in every soul, and every soul in Christ. 

This leads me to the great principle, on which the duty 
of giving every child a christian education, rests, and by 
which, therefore, we must be regulated in the choice and 
application of our means. But as this point is chiefly 
involved in the consideration of the second question, I 
reserve the subject for my next lecture. 



61 



LECTURE III. 



TO WHAT SORT AXD DEGREE OF EDCCATIOX CAN' EVERY 
HUMAX INDIVIDUAL, AS SUCH, LAY CLAIM, IXDEPEX- 
DENTLY OF RANK, FORTUNE, OR ANY OTHER DISTINC- 
TION ? 

In the two Dreceding lectures I have endeavoured to 
demonstrate the respective duties of the fanily and of 
society at large, respecting the education of children be- 
longing to them ; and I have urged the fulfilment of the 
much neglected duty of society in this respect, especially 
on the ground, that the whole of human life, with all that 
belongs to it or arises out of it, has, or at least ought to 
have, according to the divine sanction, no other purpose 
than that of leading man to the knowledge of a merciful 
Father, and a redeeming Saviour, and to bring him, as far 
as human asencv can do, under the influence of the restoring 
and sanctifying spirit of God. I have called your atten- 
tion to the awful consequences, arising out of a state of 
society, in wliich that important fact is lost sight of ; and I 
have, at the close of my last lecture, pointed out one of the 
chief causes of the neglect and indifference, of which, as a 
body, we are guilty. But I am aware, that the mercantile 
spirit of our institutions, is not the only impediment to the 
general discharge of the duty, which devolves upon us, as 



62 DOCTRINAL OBSTRUCTION OF THE TRUTH. 

Christians, to receive every little child in the name of our 
Lord and Master. There is an obstacle far more difficult 
to be overcome, because it militates, not against the 
practice, which has been recommended, but against the 
very principle, on the ground of which alone that practice 
can ever be effectually enforced or adopted. There are 
many who, although agreeing in the whole, or in most of 
what has been said, concerning the responsibility of the 
community for the temporal and eternal welfare of its 
members, and concerning the baneful and deplorable con- 
sequences of the present system, will, nevertheless, stand 
out with all their might against the acknowledgment of 
the fundamental principle, on the truth and vital appre- 
hension of which both, the reality of the view which has 
been taken of the subject, and the efficacy of its practical 
adaptation to the wants of our age, entirely depend. 

There are many who, in matters of education as well as 
in others, are ready to admire, and, if it be urged, to put 
on " a form of godliness," but who, at the same time, " deny 
the power thereof." But what is the form without the power, 
the letter without the spirit .'' — Notliing but a whited 
sepulchre, full of dead men''s bones. Away then, with the 
idea of a compromise of principle, by which popularity 
might indeed be gained to the subject, and an apparent 
success insured, but at the expense of all that renders it 
worth advocating — so that our last state would be worse 
than our first. I am aware, that what I have said already, 
is sufficient to turn away from me all those with whom a 
deep interest in religion, and a conviction of the necessity of 
its universal application to the affairs of men, is a ground of 
decided objection, and a source of unconquerable prejudice ; 
and it may therefore seem unwise, that I should engage in 
a controversy, which will at once enlist in the ranks of my 
adversaries, not only the greatest, but also the most busy, 
the most zealous, and the most influential part of what is 
termed the religious world. But it is not my object to 
gain men, unless it be, that I may gain them to the truth, 



COMPROMISE UNLAWFUL, 



63 



and so I have no motive, even if I had a right, to waive 
the truth, for the sake of gaining them. But I have more 
than one motive, because more than one call of duty, to 
declare it as explicitly, as emphatically, as possible. Even 
with reference to the success of the cause which I am 
advocating, my only wisdom is, to speak out boldly, in 
defiance of all prejudice and of all narrow-mindedness, — in 
defiance of the deafness, which I may produce in the not- 
religious, and of the slander which I may call forth, in the 
religious world. IVIy observation has furnished me with 
but too many instances, in which a good, a great, and 
sacred object, however fully understood by those with 
whom it originated, was entirely marred in its progress, 
and ultimately defeated, by an anxiety of gaining the 
popular voice in its favour, which led to endless modifi- 
cations and qualifications of the original purpose. Such 
men-pleasing prudence may become the worldling, who 
has nothing to rely on, for the attainment of his object, 
but his own strength, and his own means ; but it is utterly 
unworthy of the Christian, who is labouring for the ful- 
filment, not of his o^vn, but of the divine purpose, and 
who, therefore, if he have any faith, must implicitly rely 
on the power, and on the means of Him, in whose service he 
is engaged. The slightest temptation to suppress one 
iota of the truth, from the fear of men, or from the desire 
of pleasing them, is an evidence that the spirit of this 
Avorld has yet a hold upon his soul — and the great extent 
to which this is the case in the present day, among the 
bulk of Christian professors, is the chief prop of all the 
bigotry and sectarianism, by which this generation is defiling 
the pure doctrine of Jesus. It is in vain, that this cowardice 
covers its nakedness with the cloak of charity ; that spirit 
which foregoeth or compoundeth the truth from a wish 
for popularity, is a far more cowardly, a far more un- 
faithful spirit, than that, which denies it under the influ- 
ence of fear ; and so far from deserving the name of chris- 
tian charity, it ought to be stigmatized as enmity against 



64 COMPROMISE NO CHARITY. 

Christ. The conviction that this spirit of pseudo -charity, 
this Pharisaical hankering after religious popularity, or, in 
other words, after the assent and applause of the name- 
professing multitude, is the Samiel of our age, * the dry 
wind of the high places,' by which the seed of religion 
among us is ' blasted before it be grown up ' — would in 
itself be a sufficient inducement, to depart from the general 
practice, and, in defence of truth and principle, to make a 
determined stand against public opinion. But this duty 
becomes still more imperative, if, as is the case in the 
present instance, the principle to be proclaimed or advo- 
cated be one of the most vital importance, one which 
involves in its consequences every relationship and every 
department of human life, and which, if once acknowledged, 
and brought into practice, will operate the most radical 
and the most universal reform. On such a subject con- 
sciously to compromise, is a heinous sin — in such a matter, 
to proclaim the truth on the house-tops, is a sacred obli- 
gation. 

I have thus prefaced what I have to say, respecting the 
fundamental principle of all truly Christian education, of 
that education, to which alone I would give theoretically 
my assent, and practically my assistance, because, willing 
as I am, to engage in a controversy, where it is needed, 
nothing is more discordant with my feelings, or more ab- 
horrent from my principles, than a controvei'sial spirit. 
Neither would I advocate one single idea, because it 
happens to be mine, nor would I controvert any opinion, 
because it happens to be that of some other man, or party 
of men. All I seek, is the truth, which, I hope, I am sin- 
cerely willing to acknowledge, wherever it is to be met 
with ; and in the same manner do I invite others, whatever 
may be their creed or their denomination, to forget every per- 
sonal consideration, every love of party, and every attach- 
ment to system, every regard for human authority, as well 
as every conceit of fancied sources of illumination, whether 
designated by a prof9,ne or a sacred name, and strictly and 



THE LIGHT THAT LIGHTETH EVEEY MAX. 65 

exclusively to adhere to what is consistent with the records 
of revelation, and with that internal light of the Divine 
Spirit, by which alone the letter can receive life and under- 
standing, as by it alone both the mysteries of our own 
bosom, and the hidden things of God are made manifest to 
the eye of our mind. 

The principle, to which I thus solemnly call your atten- 
tion, as forming the basis of all true education, is not one 
of my own establishing, or of my own discovering ; neither 
is it a new one ; it is as old as the human species, and its 
knowledge is as old as the Christian dispensation ; but, 
nevertheless, its import is still but inadequately appre- 
hended by those who admit it ; and, by others, it is 
directly denied, in spite of the most express and most 
unequivocal declaration, the meaning of which cannot be 
evadedj but by a strange perversion of terms. In that 
most interesting portion of the holy scriptures, in which 
the beloved apostle draws the veil from the mysterious 
nature of his Divine Master, and acquaints us with his pre- 
existence from eternity, as the everlasting Word, which 
was with God from the beginning, and with the relation 
which he bore to a fallen world, previously to his appear- 
ance in the flesh, it is expressly declared that He by whom 
" all things were made," who has the power of making those 
that receive him " the sons of God," who " was made flesh 
and dwelt among us," was " the light of men," that " true 
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world;" and to obviate every occasion of stumbling, Avhich 
might arise out of the contrast between the import of that 
declaration, and the actual state of human kind, it is added, 
that, although he was in the world, " the world knew him 
not," that " he came unto his own, but his own received him 
not ;" that " the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness 
comprehended it not." It is difficult to conceive how the 
great truth contained in this declaration could be evaded 
by those who profess to believe in the letter of it, nay, by 
those who, with an intolerance unparalleled even by the 



66 TO BE UNDERSTOOD LITERALLY. 

most bigoted Romanism, will permit none but the most 
literal interpretation of scripture. Why then, ye that are 
haters of all spiritualizing interpretations, ye that cleave to 
the letter, and to the letter only, why then do ye spiritualize 
this declaration of mercy, made unto all men, and for the 
benefit of all, so as to confine its import to that small 
number, to which your vain conceits would fain exclusively 
appropriate the gifts of heavenly grace ? Why then, ye 
that are literal every where, where you ought to be spiri- 
tual, are you not literal here ? Here it is written lite- 
rally : — "That was the true light which lighteth every man 
that Cometh into the world" — why do you not believe in 
this literally ? It is written again literally of this light, 
that it " shineth in darkness ;" and although no one will 
deny that ye are darkness, yet it is spiritualizing too much 
to suppose that ye are the only darkness ! Why then do 
ye affect to think, that where the world is spoken of, it 
meaneth but you, and where darkness is spoken of, that 
again it meaneth but you ? Why are ye so loth to admit, 
that ye and all your brethren are forming one world of 
darkness, in which, by the mercy of God, the light still 
shineth — that although it shineth in all and unto all, yet it 
is comprehended, fully comprehended by none, and re- 
ceived but by a few ? Consider of this ; for it is an awful 
presumption for the creature who itself standeth in need of 
mercy, to restrict the mercy of the most merciful. Why 
do ye wrest the declarations of the Lord, and why, taking 
possession of the gates of the kingdom, of which he hath 
never appointed you the keepers, do ye obstruct the way of 
those who are desirous of entering ? O ye blind leaders of 
the blind ! 

Is it not in consequence of your traditions, of your 
catechisms, and creeds, in consequence of the bigoted 
spirit with which you oppress, by all means in your power, 
every one that doth not conform himself to your inter- 
pretations, but looketh to the Spirit of whom the Scriptures 
testify, rather than to you, of whom neither the Scriptures 



NO EDUCATION WITHOUT THIS PRINCIPLE. S'] 

nor the Spirit do testify, but on the contrary both against 
you ; is it not, I say, in consequence of the violence which 
the kingdom sufFereth through you, that there are so many 
who " have not," and from whom, therefore, is " taken 
away even that which they have?" How is it possible 
that any good can be done in education, unless it be done 
by a power of goodness ? And what other power of good- 
ness is there, but He by whom every thing was made, who 
was with God, and God from the beginning ; who was 
made manifest in the flesh in the person of Jesus, to make 
known unto men the source of all life and light ? What 
duty, or what right, has any parent or any other man, to 
hold communication with, or exercise influence over the 
child, except in the communion of that power ? If that 
power be not in the child, if the child be entirely given 
up to his own nature, which we know to be totally defiled 
and corrupted, what caii man hope to effect by his educa- 
tion, but to foster the growth of the old man, which is 
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ? If we impart 
knowledge to the childj without the agency of that power 
within his mind, if it be the understanding of the old man, 
that receiveth our instruction, what can we hope to plant, 
but that knowledge which puffcth up, the wisdom of this 
world, which is foolishness with God ? If we enforce the 
practice of virtue, if we form habits of good conduct in 
the child, without the agency of that power within his 
heart ; if it be the old man, that is made to follow after 
righteousness, is it not evident that he will not attain it ? 
Wherefore ? Because the righteousness is not sought by 
faith in the power of righteousness, but as it were by the 
works of the law. If we teach the letter of revelation, if 
we inculcate the doctrines of it, without the agency of that 
power in the child's soul, if it be the old man that receiveth 
the word, and receiveth the interpretation, how is it pos- 
sible otherwise, than that his faith should stand in the 
wisdom. of men, and not in the power of God ? What can 
knowledge profit, if we take away the key of knowledge ? 

F 2 



68 god''s pukpose universal. 

What can we expect from the work of education, tvhen 
undertaken without faith in him who is all and in all, but 
that it make clean the outside of the cup and platter, and 
leave the inward part full of ravening and wickedness ? 
And what better answer can be given to those, who would 
refer the declaration, " that he is the light which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world," to Christ"'s appear- 
ance in the flesh, or to the written record of his cove- 
nant, and not to the universal presence and agency of his 
Spirit, than the reproof of our Saviour : " Ye fools, did 
not he that made that which is without, make that which 
is tvithin also ?" 

What is the whole import of Scripture, from beginning 
to end ? What is the sum and substance of all God's 
dispensations to a fallen world? What is the result of 
our spiritual communion with the searcher of hearts ? Is 
it not, that by sin " death hath passed upon all men f but 
that there is a " living God, who is the Saviour of all 
men, specially of those that believe," and " who will have 
all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of 
the truth ;" — that for this great, holy, and merciful pur- 
pose, God hath granted unto men forgiveness of sins, 
through the sacrifice of his Son, who " gave himself a 
ransom for all,'''' and hath caused to shine, in the darkness 
of their fallen natures, " that true light which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world." Does it require 
any farther testimony to prove that God's purpose of sal- 
vation is an universal purpose, that the means appointed 
by him for its fulfilment are universal means, universally 
appointed and granted f The question is not here, whe- 
ther or not these means are universally embraced. Let it 
be, that there are many who " have not submitted them-^ 
selves unto the righteousness of God," — many who receive 
not the light, and, in this sense, " have not the Spirit of 
Christ." I have nothing to do with this ; for it concerneth 
judgment, and judgment is the Lord's; what concerneth 
me and my duty, is the question, whether Christ have 



THE MEANS TO IT UNIVERSALLY GRANTED. 69 

given himself a ransom /or all, or merely /or a few ; whe- 
ther his light be given to every man that cometh into the 
world, or only to some of them; whether the purpose of 
God be universal or partial ; and, if it must be admitted 
to be universal : whether God, at the same time that he 
included all men in his purpose, have excluded most men, 
or any one man, from the possession of the means, by which 
alone this purpose can be attained? The question is, 
whether the Omnipresent be omnipresent in space only, 
and not in spirit ; and, if his omnipresence in spirit, his 
presence in the heart of every creature, cannot be denied : 
whether his presence be effectual or ineffectual, whether 
it be felt or not felt by the creature, by the obedient as a 
power of love, and faith and life everlasting, — by the dis- 
obedient as a power of wrath, of reproof, and of condemna- 
tion. Whether it be of the flesh or of the spirit, of letter 
or of life, of the name or of the power, that the Lord 
spoke, when he said : " He that believeth on him is not 
condemned : but he that believeth not, is cotidemned 
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the 
only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, 
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds were evil." Or 
what meaneth the baptist, when he testifieth, " He that 
believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life, and he that 
believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of 
God ahideth on him." Let these questions be satisfactorily 
answered ; let not this primitive power of seeing the truth, 
and of obeying it, this standard of right, without which 
the heathen could never have been " a law to themselves," 
this soul-stirring, reproving, correcting, enlightening and 
strengthening influence, be confounded with those higher 
gifts of grace : the new birth of the soul, whereby Christ, 
being received by us, becometh in us the hope of glory, 
and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit — let these things, 
as they are spiritual, be spiritually discerned ; but let not 
the blasphemous notion be entertained, that God, the 



70 RULE OF EDUCATION, LAID DOWN BY CHRIST. 

giver of every good and perfect gift, who has declared that 
*' every one that asketh receiveth ;"" that " he that seeketh, 
findeth ;"" has withheld from any man that, without which 
no man could have an idea, or a motive, the will or the 
power, of asking or of seeking. Let not God's gracious 
promise, that he will give more abundantly to those that 
ask him, be turned into a sinful disregard and forgetful- 
ness, of what he has given to all, before any could ask. 
Let not the weak be offended, and the proud ensnared, by 
a vain and perplexing doctrine, which either consigns 
man to the indolent inactivity of predestinarianism, or 
impresses him with the profane and dangerous notion, that 
he is to make, as it were, the first advances for reconcilia- 
tion with his God. But " hear the righteousness which is 
of faith, on what wise it speaketh : Say not in thine heart : 
* Who shall ascend into heaven .?' (that is, to bring down 
Christ frorn above) or, ' Who shall descend into the 
deep .?' (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 
But what saith it.'* The word is nigh thee, even in 

THY MOUTH, AND IN THY HEART." 

It is in this faith only, that we can ever enter into the 
spirit of that memorable declaration of our Saviour, which 
is the golden rule of all education : "^ Whoso shall 

RECEIVE one such LITTLE CHILD IN MY NAME, RE- 
CEIVETH ME !" And here, again, I would wish, that 
our great leaders of doctrine, our scribes and lawyers, 
with whom the letter availeth so much, Avould for once 
keep to the letter. Hear their interpretation : " Whoso 
shall receive one such little child in my name^'' i. e., 
whoso shall, from motives of Christian charity, provide for 
the instruction of such a little child, in a school conducted 
upon one of " the most approved systems," (where, in addi- 
tion to other knowledge, calculated to fit him for some 
trade, he will be made to spell over the letter of the 
Gospel, and to learn, by rote, the catechism of the party 
to which his benefactor belongs, so as to give him 
a chance of becoming a professor of the same party, 



WHAT IT IS TO llECEIVE A CHILD IN HIS NAME. "]! 

if he retain the knowledge so acquired, and a Chris- 
tian, if, in spite of this instruction, grace should 
be added from above ;) whoso does this " receiveth 
7»e," i. e. shall be rewarded as if Christ had been 
in such a helpless condition, and the same service 
had been rendered to him. Is this the hfe and spirit — 
is it even the letter of the declaration of our Lord ? — Why, 
then, is it not taken literally : " Whoso shall receive one 
such little child in my name, receiveth me ;" i. e. whoso 
having undertaken the rearing of one such little child, 
shall humbly acknowledge, that he himself can tlo nothing 
for it, but that there is one mightier than himself, even 
the everlasting Word, who hath both the will and the 
power of influencing the heart and mind of the little 
child — whoso, in this faith, shall make it his whole and sole 
object, to become an instrument in the hand of that holy 
power, for the purpose of aiding to bring the child into a 
state, in which he will be ready to listen to the instructions, 
and to submit to the dictates, of that inward teacher and 
ruler, he, says our Lord, in truth and in reality receiveth 
me. Born from above, and one with me, his soul holds 
intercourse, in holiness, truth, and love, not with the selfish 
feelings, or the corrupt tendencies, which arise from the 
fallen and sinful nature of the child, but with my own pure 
and undefiled nature, which I have deposited in the child's 
heart, as a spark, ready to burst forth into a sacred flame, 
as soon as it is kindled by the congenial flame of my spirit, 
manifested through one of my faithful and single-hearted 
servants. And he Avho doeth so, looketh for no reward, for 
he hath his reward. 

Here is the basis on which our education must be 
founded, to be a Christian education, in the true sense of 
the word ; an education by the means, and to the ends of 
Christ ; far difl'erent from those lifeless systems, which 
prevail so largely among us, and which have, some of them 
at least, a form of godliness, viz.. Scripture reading and 
catechisation, but deny the power thereof, viz., the direct 



72 EDUCATION A SERVICE OF CHllIST. 

operation and agency of a divine life upon the feelings and 
convictions of the child. It is inconceivable, how any but 
infidels, half Christians, or mock Christians, can, with any 
degree of consistency, object to the principle, of building 
education wholly and solely upon the faith in the indwell- 
ing, and the internal operation of that divine principle, 
which, if it be gradually received into the child's soul, as 
the stream of a new life, and brought to full consciousness 
and clearness in him, is, what is termed in Scripture, 
"' Christ formed in us," and makes us " new creatures in 
Christ." No Christian can think himself justified in edu- 
cating in the child the carnal mind, which is enmity 
against God ; all that a Christian can wish to do, is, to 
become subservient in his influence upon the child, to the 
gradual formation and ultimate birth of a spiritual mind, of 
the new man, in the child. But if this be avowedly our 
object, and we be Christians in truth and in spirit, we must 
know that it is impossible for us to educate the new man 
into the child ; but that we can only, by the outward 
manifestation of that same spirit of Christ, and by judicious 
treatment, as regards both instruction and discipline, lead 
the child more clearly to perceive, and more readily to obey, 
this internal ruler ; and we must know, likewise, that the 
existence of such a ruler, and our faith in him, is the indis- 
pensable condition of our so doing ; for the new man is 
not born " of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 
but of God."* 

* The following testimony ofpersong,l experience, extracted from "The 
"Journal of Job Scott, an American Minister," is so direct to the point, 
that I cannot forbear inserting it here : — " Almost as early as I can remember 
^' any thing, I can well remember the Lord's secret workings in my heart, by 
" his Grace or Holy Spirit, very sensibly bringing me under condemnation for 
" my evil thoughts and actions, as rudeness and bad words, though I was not 
" frequent in the use of the latter ; for disobedience to parents ; for inwardly 
^' wishing, in moments of anger, some evil to such as offended me ; and such 
" like childish and corrupt dispositions and practices, which, over and beyond 
" all outward instruction, I was made sensible were evil, and sprang from a 
" real root of evil in me. And I am in a full belief that, iii every quarter of the 
^^ globe, children at an early age have good and evil set before them in the 



CONSEQUENCES OF THIS PEINCIPLE. ^3 

Taking this view of the subject, there cannot be much 

" shining of the light of Christ in their hearts, with clearness and evidence 
^^ sufficient to discover to them their duty, if they honestly attend to it. And 
" though I am deeply sensible of the necessity and utility of much careful 
" guardianship, cultivation, and instruction, in order to guard children against 
" the corrupting influence of example, invitation, and perverse inclination, 
" which abundantly and prevalently surround them ; yet, I fear a great part 
^' of the tuition, which too many children receive, tends rather to blunt the 
" true sense and evidence of divine truths upon the mind, and to substitute 
" notions and systems instead thereof, than to encourage an honest attention 
" to the teachings which lead into all truth. I am satisfied, if the teachings 
" of men were never to thwart the teachings of the Holy Spirit, many 
" things viouldfix on the mind of children to he evils, ivhich they are now in- 
^' s true ted and persuaded are innocent and commendable. Indeed, it is 
" mournful to observe how many of them are bolstered up in pride, vanity, 
" and revenge ; taught to plume themselves upon their supposed superiority 
" of parts and attainments, nursed up in the ideas of grandeur and worldly 
" honour, yea, inspired with exalted notions of the merit of valour, heroism, 
*' and human slaughter. Many there are who put light for darkness, and 
" darkness for light ; bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. They call the 
" divine light, ' tvhich lighteneth every man that cometh into the tvorld,^ a 
" natural light, an ignis fatuus, or by some other ignominious epithet ; though 
" the Scripttires declare it to be the very life of the holy word, that ivas in 
"the BEGINNIXG with god, and truly was god. There are many, 
** who, under a notion of advocating the true cause and doctrine of Christ, 
" strike violently against the very life of it, and tvill not allow that ' the 
"manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal,' though 
*' the Scriptures expressly assert it, and experience confirms it to those who 
" rightly profit by the measure received. Many who have, from tradition and 
^' education, for a season believed, the Holy Spirit, graciously vouchsafed them, 
" was some very inferior thing to the true Spirit of the everlasting and most 
" Holy God, have, at length, by yielding to its dictates, and taking it for their 
" leader, grown wiser than their teachers, and been indubitably instructed and 
"assured, that it was indeed the eternal spirit, which from their 
" infantile days strove ivith them, for their reconciliation tvith God, the eternal 
" source of it, as it did with the old world, for their recovery from their corrupted, 
" alienated state. In regard to my oivn early acquaintance with the Holy 
" Spirifs operation, though I then knew not ivhat it teas, I have noiv no more 
'• doubt about it, than I have about the existence and omnipresence of God. 
'■ It is sealed upon my heart with as much clearness and certainty, that it is 
" the Spirit of the living God, and that it visits, wooes, invites, and strives 
" with all, at least for a season, as it is that God is no respecter of persons ; 
" and I as fully believe no man can have any clear knowledge of God, or of his 
*' own religious duty, without the Holy Spirifs influence, as I believe, the 
"wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and that the world by wisdom 
" knows him not," 



74 THE END OF EDUCATION NOT TEMPOllAL. 

difficulty attending the question ; to what sort and degree 
of education every human individual can, as such, lay 
claim, independently of rank, fortune, or any other dis- 
tinction ? Whatever is in any way calculated to bring 
him more fully under the influence and controul of that 
indwelling power of divine life, forms part of that educa- 
tion which, in a Christian land, ought not only to be placed 
within reach of, but, with anxious solicitude, to be be- 
stowed upon every child. No rank can be so high, no cir- 
cumstances so affluent, as to render it unnecessary, or in 
the slightest degree less valuable ; nor can there be any 
station in society so low, as to preclude it from the claim 
to its blessings. And, if it is evident, on one hand, that 
the situation in life of the parents, should not be permitted 
to affect it, it is equally obvious, on the other, that, so far 
from being made subservient to the child's own pursuits 
in after-life, it ought to build up in the child that, to 
which the whole of his earthly existence is to be a constant 
ministration. It is not by the claims, which society intends 
to make at a future period upon the individuals, nor by 
those artificial distinctions, which our unsocial feelings, and, 
derived from them, our social prejudices, have introduced 
among men, that the sort and degree of education bestowed 
upon every child, ought to be regulated ; but, by the pur- 
pose which God has with every individual, and by the 
means with which he has gifted him, for the attainment of 
that purpose. Such phrases as these: — *' That will not 
make him a good carpenter, or a good shoemaker." — " It 
may be very well for those who can afford to amuse them- 
selves with these things." — " I really do not think that it 
is benefiting the poor, to give them so much education — it 
will only make them discontented with, or disqualify them 
for, their station ;" — ought never to come over benevolent, 
over Christian lips. It ought to be recollected, that a man's 
station is made for him, and not the man for the station. 
We must not permit ourselves to talk, or to think, as if 
this life had an existence for itself, and a purpose in itself, 



ALL THINGS TO BE REFERRED TO ONE PURPOSE. ^5 

as if religion was the only thing in time, that refers to 
eternity ; but we should have it present to our minds, that 
the whole of this life is nothing, and worse than nothing, 
unless it be referred to a future state, which, let it not be 
forgotten, is, at the same time, the original one. This 
relation between time and eternity we must not acknow- 
ledge merely as a doctrine, to be mentioned in our prayers, 
and urged in sermons ; we must make the feeling of that 
doctrine an habitual feeling of our souls, and let our conduct 
become a practical exemplification of it. How differently 
from what it is now, would then the plan of our lives be 
sketched out, how differently filled up. Instead of setting 
apart one portion of our time for the service of God, and 
another portion, generally far the larger one, for the things 
of this world, we should appropriate to the pursuit of 
heavenly objects the whole of our time ; so much so, that 
even the bustle of life, as far as we felt it a duty to par- 
ticipate in it, could never divert our attention, for a mo- 
ment, from the great purpose. Instead of considering 
ourselves responsible for the exercise of a spiritual influ- 
ence, with reference to some persons only, and viewing our 
relation to others as founded merely in the things of this 
earth, and, therefore, destitute of all reference to any thing 
spiritual, we should feel, that 'every intercourse with ano- 
ther creature, which sets aside the circumstance of his 
being created by the same God, and placed upon this earth 
for the same purpose with ourselves, and deals with him 
merely as with an earthly being, is a positive sin ; that it 
is a duty we owe, both to others and to ourselves, to enter 
into no relationship whatever, without sanctifying it, as an 
opportunity of promoting the kingdom of heaven — because 
every communication, established independently of this 
object, becomes a vehicle of corruption between others and 
ourselves. And if we felt this, and gave it practical effect 
in the regulation of our own lives, how differently should 
we then feel, and think, and act, with reference to the 
education of our children. Could it then ever occur to us. 



76 EVERY FINITE PURPOSE TO BE ABANDONED. 

to give one education for the glory of God, and another 
education for the getting on in the world ? I think not. 
We should then perceive, what our Lord means, when he 
says, " No man can serve two masters ;" we should then 
draw nearer, both in understanding and in practice, to the 
spirit of the Apostle's injunction: " Whether, therefore, 
ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory 
of Godr 

It is hardly possible to conceive the immense change, 
which the literal accomplishment of this rule would pro- 
duce in the whole aspect of I'society. If every subordinate 
purpose of life were done away with in our social institu- 
tions, if the majority of men — not to say every man — 
sought nothing but the kingdom of God, and its righteous- 
ness ; how many motives of oppression, on one hand, how 
many sources of anxiety on the other, would then cease ; 
how many necessities, which we have artificially imposed 
upon ourselves, and the weight of which we foolishly in- 
crease, in proportion as we feel their pressure, would then 
entirely vanish ; how many false aims, now proposed by 
society to its deluded members, would then sink into 
nothingness ; how many temptations to sin, now publicly 
held out, would thereby be avoided ; and how many a 
legislative enactment might then be spared, which has the 
object of curing those moral diseases, which the false 
principles of the social constitution necessarily produce, 
but, as it is intended to cure the result only, and not the 
cause, can have no other effect than that of rendering the 
state of things still more artificial, more corrupt, more 
abhorrent from Christian principle. How many of those 
callings, which, — as they have for their object the satisfac- 
tion of the unnatural wants, or the gratification of the 
defiled tastes of society, and for their motive and stimulus, 
the prospect of worldly gain or honour — are as many 
snares, in which the souls of men are entangled, would 
then become utterly useless and unnecessary. How little 
would men have to do, and to care, for their earthly sub- 



THE PRESEXT TEXUENCY OF SOCIETY. 77 

sistence, if they forgot their earthly purposes, and sought 
nothing but the kingdom of heaven ! And how httle would 
there, then, be of that vain religious talk, by which the pro- 
fessing world are now endeavouring to disguise from them- 
selves the absence of real religious feeling, in the greater 
part of their social relations, and of their daily transac- 
tions. This would be a new earth, indeed ; in which an 
orthodox saint, with the swelling arrogance of his doc- 
trinality, and the self-complacent consciousness of his reli- 
gious popularity, would feel himself quite as new, as the 
haughty merchant, who thinks himself responsible for 
nothing but his bills of exchange, and estimates the value 
of men by pounds sterling. 

But I must not indulge myself further in the contemplation 
of a spectacle, which, considering the present condition of 
society, seems more like a fanciful fairy tale, than like the de- 
scription of a state of things, to which we are approaching. 
Distant as the prospect may appear to some, the period, 
when these things will be realized, is perhaps not very 
remote; it may be brought about with unexpected rapi- 
<iity in consequence of the very re-action, which the 
present tendency of the social institutions and of the 
public spirit, must infallibly produce. There is a free- 
dom given to man, and a power of choosing and follow- 
ing his own way — ^but to that freedom, and to that 
power, there is a limit : there is a point where the hand 
of the Lord is stretched out against him, forbidding 
him to go any farther ; at a distance it is a warning hand, 
reminding him that God's purpose is not to be slighted; 
but if he give not heed to that admonition, if he run 
on in his blindness, that hand grasps him up from the 
path of his folly, and, with the strength of Omnipotence, 
throws him back to the starting point, from which he may 
begin a new career. How many of these shocks has our 
species experienced, by which the tide of its life was sud- 
denly arrested; the power gathered up during the course 
of centuries, annihilated as with a breath, and the slowly 



78 REACTION WHICH IT MUSJT PRODUCE, 

recovering energies forced, to seek out a new direction, in 
which to grow and to act. It is such another shock that 
will overtake us in the midst of our mutual congratula- 
tions, our boasts of improvement. The hand of the Lord 
is stretched out against this generation, and against its 
way. Yet would there be time, if we had ears to hear, and 
eyes to perceive ; if we were not rushing on headlong into 
ruin. But though the mass will not hear, either of the 
danger, or of the means of rescue, there are some at least, 
who perceive the true position of things, and who are 
ready to embrace the true remedy. They will be instruments 
in the hand of God for the comforting and re-establishing 
of the multitude, who will be utterly dismayed, when all 
their schemes prove abortive. And it is with reference to 
those few rather, than with the hope of producing a more 
general effect, that I would urge the necessity of excluding 
from the education of our children, all those fictitious pur- 
poses, by which our own characters are distorted, our ten- 
dencies misdirected, our powers marred. If we mean to 
educate our children for the days which they shall see, we 
must not endeavour to fit them for the present state of 
things ; for, as the Jews, that had seen the meat-pots of the 
Egyptians, were unfit to see the Holy Land, so will the 
men nurtured up in the principles and for the purposes of 
our age, be unfit to witness and to co-operate in that great 
reform, on the eve of which we stand. 

This my conviction, however, of an impending change, 
although it may place the necessity of giving our children 
an education, altogether independent of the purposes to 
which we are subservient, in a stronger light, is by no means 
the only or even the chief ground, on which I would re- 
commend such a course of proceeding. It holds good as 
a general principle, indispensably connected with the law 
of progress, to which man, in his present condition, is sub- 
ject, that no child can be well prepared for the time, in 
which he will be a man, if he be fitted for the state of 
things, as it is at the time of his childhood. Nor is this 



THE CHILD TO BE FITTED FOR A BETTER AGE. 79 

the first time that the too common practice of training 
children up as slaves of our notions, our feelings, our 
habits and customs, our institutions and our purposes, has 
been objected to. There have been some, though not 
many, who have acknowledged and urged the necessity 
of an education, independent of the individual's station 
in society. Rousseau, among others, has made this point 
very prominent in his theory of education ; instead of 
training man for the present state of society, he pro- 
poses educating him for a state of nature ; but Rous- 
seau, who, on all occasions, evinced more penetration in 
laying bare that which is wrong, than in pointing out 
what is right, discovers, on this head also, more negative , 
than positive truth. His supposed state of nature is 
far more unnatural, than even the most artificial state of 
society : for it is neither the state in which man was 
intended to be, nor that in which he actually is, or ever 
was. It is a fancied state, for ever unattainable, because 
founded on an erroneous view of human nature, as well 
as of man"'s position in the world. But what renders 
Rousseau''s plan far more exceptionable, is the object 
which he is avowedly aiming at, viz., to educate the 
child with regard to his insulated self, for the purpose 
of insuring to him as much as possible, of independent 
happiness. This is a human, and, even in a human 
point of view, a selfish purpose, and an education foun- 
ded upon it, must, therefore, under all circumstances, be 
a false education. It is wrong to educate man for other 
men, or, as is often the case, for the imaginations of 
other men ; but it is no less wrong to educate him for 
himself. It is not right to educate him for an artificial 
state of society, but it is no improvement upon this, to 
educate him for a supposititious state of nature. The only 
true education is that which educates man for God, and for 
that state, for which God has destined him ; an education 
for the purpose of God, and by the means of God. 

It is this education, and no other, which is to be given 



W PSYCHOLOGY. 

to every individual, without distinction or exception, be- 
cause God is not a respecter of persons ; it is this and no 
other, to which I wish to call your attention. Concerning 
the purpose, which is the restoration of man. I have already 
exphiined mvself. I trust, explicitly enough to prevent 
all misunderstanding ; and I have likewise, at the begin- 
ning of the present lecture, clearly stated what I consider 
to be the chief means, appointed by God for the attainment 
of it, that means, in which all other means must concen- 
trate, from which thev must all receive their life, in order 
to become truly efficient. It then remains for us to exa- 
mine, what those subordinate means are, or, in other words, 
we must ask : — •■ what is there in man. capable of receiving 
that life ;md light, which lighteth everv man that cometh 
into the world .'" 

In order to answer this question, it will be necessarv to 
enter somewhat more deeply into the constitution of man's 
soul ; or, if the term may be allowed, his psi/chica If organi- 
zation, the knowledge of which is, — next to the faith in the 
indwelling of the true life and light, and the union with 
that power in perfect love — the most essential requisite in 
those who wish successfully to cultivate the field of edu- 
cation. Unfortunatelv, that knowledge has hitherto been 
but little cultivated ; a few vague notions, which, upon 
close examination, are found to be, most of them, contradic- 
tory with each other, arranged in the sliape of a system, 

• From the Greek word Psyche, soul. We have from the word tCtn; the 
■words pht/sical, pht/siolopi/. phi/siological, and there seems no reason why 
there should not be analogous derivatives from ■J'-X'^j psychical, belonging 
or referring to the soul, psycholopy, the science of the soul (so inadequately and 
climisUy called " philosophy of the human mind") and psycholopica!, belonging 
or referring to that science. The entire absence of these, or any other terms of the 
same import, is, no doubt, owing to the want of the thing itself, for which the 
name psychology is here proposed. For the science styled " philosophy of the 
hiuman mind," is but a very small portion of the science of the whole soul of 
man, and that small portion has hitherto not had justice done to it. But it 
seems that more attention begins to be paid to that important branch of know- 
ledge, and I trust, the terms proposed will soon become indispensable in tine 
Enehsh lanfru.iffe. 



PBEJJEXT STATE OF THIS iCIEXCE. 81 

and snipported by the enumeration of a variety of facts, 
many of which might as well serve to prove the reverse of 
what they are adduced for, this is the thing honoured with 
the name philosophy of the human mind. Xo wonder, 
then, that metaphysics have fallen into such general dis- 
credit, and that the studv of them is considered either use- 
less or dangerous. The objection, that men of eminent 
talent, nay, men of decided piety, have be^i engaged in 
the inquirj', cannot avail, either to set aside the popular 
prejudice, or to refute the accusation, that the science of the 
human mind is in a roost deplorable condition. If the in- 
quiry be undertaken on a false ground, talent can only 
nerve to make error more complicated^ and therefore the 
confusion greater ; although, perhaps, outwardly less ap- 
parent. It is not sufficient, that a man should have col- 
lected a number of phenomena of the mind, and offered an 
explanation of them, which, by its acuteness, excites our 
admiration. His explanations may be exceedingly clever, 
and yet, on this ver>- account, perhaps, far from correct : 
his view of human nature mav be nothing but a system of 
errors, and vet it may be a highly ingenious productico of 
the mind. But the verv fact that our philosophies of the 
human mind are productions of the human mind, is the 
reason why we are yet so backward in the knowledge of 
human nature ; it is not an ingenious explanaticm of the 
most striking or the most puzzling phenomena, we want, 
but a simple statement of the causes £rotn wMch those 
phenomena proceed : and this is not a matter of invention, 
but a matter of discover^- and acknowledgment- Hitherto, 
however, the conceit of the suificiency of the radonal 
powers of man for the establi-shment of truth, has been so 
universal, — even among the religious world, who entertain 
it with reference to every branch of human knowledge, 
religion alone excepted, — that the lawfulness of forming 
h_)-potheses in matters of science, provided they be sup- 
ported by a number of facts, sufficient to make them appear 
probable, has never been called in question. Hypothesis, 



82 HYPOTHESIS AND TRUTH. 

however, and truth are opposed in their very natures, for 
truth offers itself to the eye of the mind with a self-evi- 
dence and an absolute certainty, before which the idea of 
hypothetical admission or acknowledgment appears as a 
sacrilege ; and hypothesis, on the other hand, courts atten- 
tion by a display of dazzling and insinuating qualities, 
which truth ever scorns as utterly unworthy. Hypothesis 
is swelled up in the robes of argument, in order to astonish 
and thereby to impose upon us ; whereas, truth appears 
with such simplicity, that the humble soul only can per- 
ceive, how infinitely it is above us. Hypothesis is a vile 
coquette, feigning attachment to all that flatter her, and 
condescending to the very basest means of increasing the 
host of her admirers. Truth is a heavenly maid, who 
shrinks from the profane eye of vanity, whose chaste looks 
true love alone can attract. 

This uncongeniality of hypothesis with truth, is the 
reason why our sciences depart from the way of truth, in 
the same proportion as they are mingled with, or founded 
upon, hypothesis ; and as no science, perhaps, has been 
treated in a more hypothetical manner than the science of 
the human mind, so, likewise, is there none in which we fall 
more short of the truth. Hence, as it is written, that the 
world by wisdom knew not God, so it may likewise be said, 
that man by wisdom knoweth not himself. 

It is, of course, impossible for me to enter into a full 
and detailed discussion of so vast a subject : I must con- 
tent myself with urging its great importance, in particular 
reference to the subject of education, from which it ought 
never to be separated. The miserable state in which edu- 
cation generally is, can only be accounted for by the gene- 
ral ignorance of teachers in this department of knowledge ; 
and nothing, on the other hand, can be a more striking 
proof of the absolute darkness, in which the philosophy of 
the human mind is still involved, than the fact, that the 
different attempts of establishing that science, have been 
made with hardly any reference to the gradual develop- 



OPPOSITE EXTREMES OF EKROR. 83 

ment of the powers of the soul in infancy, childhood, 
and youth, as if the nature of any thing could be under- 
stood, independently of the knowledge of its origin, and 
the history of its formation. No one will ever be able to 
form a correct estimate of man's nature, unless he watch 
it from the earliest dawn of life, through the various stages 
of its progress ; nor will any one ever be able to nurture 
up the mind and heart of a child, without a general know- 
ledge of human nature. This is so obvious, that it would 
seem superfluous to say it, were it not for the fact, that, in 
practical life, education, and the philosophy of the human 
mind, are as unconnected as two of the most heterogeneous 
trades. Nor shall we ever see this evil remedied, until the 
public at large free themselves from the bondage of some 
hacknied systems, handed down from generation to genera- 
tion, and received with the same veneration and confidence, 
as the legends and traditions in the Romish church — such, 
for instance, as Locke's doctrine of the tabula rasa, or 
blank sheet, on which it is the teacher's task to scribble 
the necessary ideas. But if a salutary degree of diffidence 
should be exercised with reference to these hereditary 
systems, no less caution is required in the examination and 
adoption of some that have newly sprung up among us'. 
As the very antipode of Locke, a system has recently been 
started, which not only recognizes the existence of a variety 
of faculties, but distinguishes and defines them with an 
accuracy hitherto unknown in the philosophy of the mind, 
and the more tempting, because supported by a host of 
facts — ^not speculative facts, but facts which admit of de- 
monstration to the five senses. Between this topography 
of the soul, and Locke's terra incognita, there are an in- 
definite number of intermediate views, in which the balance 
is held more or less equally between the supposed primi- 
tive powers of the mind, and the presumed influence of 
education. But, widely as these various views and sys- 
tems may diff'er, in their foundation and their superstruc- 
ture, their value, when put to the test of truth, and applied 

G 2 



.84 REVELATION iVND HUMAN SCIENCE. 

to the practical purposes of education, will, I am afraid, 
turn out to be much the same. 

I should be sorry to be understood to say anything in the 
slightest degree tending to depreciate an accurate knowledge 
of the different powers of the mind ; on the contrary, I con- 
sider that knowledge to be most essential, not only in edu- 
cation, but, generally, for the economy both of our internal 
and external life. Yet this knowledge will be altogether 
dead and valueless, if, as is the case very frequently, and 
particularly in the systems alluded to, the existence of the 
different powers be assumed or ascertained as a mere matter 
of fact, without due reference to the cause, from which they 
spring, and to the purpose, for which they are intended. 
It will not do to say : — We find such and such facts in 
the physical organization of man, and hence we conclude 
that such and such is the nature of his mind, and such 
and such the purpose of his existence. The conclusion 
from the effect to the cause, from the means to the 
purpose is, to say the least of it, always a very doubtful 
one ; and if there be other sources from which cause and 
purpose may be ascertained, in a more direct manner, they 
are unquestionably preferable. This is the great value of 
revelation for human science, a value which has never been 
understood — that revelation informs us of the causes and 
purposes of all that exists, and thereby gives us the key 
to that world of facts, which is displayed before us. Thus, 
with reference to the knowledge of man's nature, revela- 
tion supplies us with information the most important, and 
such as, from no other source, least of all from an observa- 
tion of the facts of the mind, or an investigation of its 
powers, we could ever have attained. For the sake of a 
clearer understanding of what I shall afterwards have to 
say, I may, perhaps, be allowed to sum up the subject in 
the following manner : — 
I. As regards the history of human nature : 

1. Man's soul was originally created as an object of the 
agency of the divine life ; its faculties were concentrated 



HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SOUL. 85 

upon its Maker, whose influence gave them life, a life of 
harmonious consciousness in themselves, and a life of har- 
monious expansion over the whole creation of God. It 
was an instrument of psaltery, from which the breath of 
Jehovah drew heavenly notes of bliss to the soul, and of 
glory to himself. 

2. It was the will of God, that this state should be per- 
petuated, and thus the purpose of man's creation accom- 
plished, by a voluntary yielding, on the part of man, to the 
influence of his Maker, and, consequently, the powers of the 
soul were instructed not only with a capability of receiving 
the divine influence, but also with a capability of rejecting 
it ; and both states, the existence with God, and in God, 
and the existence without God and out of God, were set 
before man, in their true light, the former as life, the 
latter as death. 

3. The use which man made of this liberty of choice, was 
to take the government of the faculties of his soul out of 
the hands of God into his own ; whereby he gave birth, in 
himself, to a tendency opposed to the divine influence, and 
he not only became liable to the influence of other evil 
beings, but he became evil in himself. Under the rule of 
his own evil spirit, the faculties of his soul fell into a state 
of contradiction among themselves, and of discrepancy 
with the creation of God. The harmony of the true life, 
for which they were destined, was lost, and, instead 
thereof, came the discord of a false life, which, truly, was 
death. 

4. Although the condition of man was thus altered, 
God's original purpose in the creation of man remained 
unchanged ; and, therefore, God did not abandon man, 
even in his degraded state ; but he placed him in his pre- 
sent condition, the wants and difliculties of which are cal- 
culated to impress him with a sense of his dependence ; 
and to counteract, and ultimately to conquer, his evil 
spirit, God continued upon him, the influence of that 
power of true and perfect life, by which, originally, his 
soul was exclusively ruled, and which still influences him. 



86 PRESENT STATE OF THE HUMAN SOUL, 

in a greater or lesser degree; unwillingly, in those who have 
not received it, but are, for a period, or at times, rendered 
incapable of resistance by the helplessness of their con- 
dition; unconsciously, in those who have not acknowledged 
it ; but willingly, in those who have received it, and con- 
sciously in those who have believed in it, who acknow- 
ledge and profess it. He who receives it only, when under 
the sway of necessity, and, therefore, both unwillingly and 
unconsciously, is in a reprobate state, a state of sin and 
darkness — he who receives it willingly, but unconsciously, 
is under the law — he who receives it willingly and con- 
sciously, is in a state of sanctification.* 
II, As regards man*'s present condition : 

1. Man is fallen off from the original purpose of his 
creation. 

2. God intends to restore man to that purpose. 

3. Man, being a fallen creature, has in himself an evil 
spirit, which turns away the faculties of his soul from the 
purpose for which they were created, and rules them unto 
destruction. 

4. Man, being destined to be restored, has dwelling in 
himself, though unknown to himself, a good spirit, the 
Word, which was one with God from the beginning, which, 
if yielded and subriiitted to by him, will recal the facul- 
ties of his soul to the purpose for which they were created, 
and rule them unto life everlasting. 

Let these premises, derived from revelation, be granted, 
let them be the torch by the aid of which we penetrate 
into the mysteries of the human breast, and the field of 
psychology may fairly be thrown open to observation and 
inquiry. Let every fact that is observed, be brought 
under the rays of this light, and it will be elucidated ; it 
will become itself a point of light, from which light will 

* It may, in these days of easy offence, be due to the weakness of some, to 
remind them, that the above is not an enmneration of all the dispensations of 
mercy, but merely of such, as have for their immediate object the government 
of man'' s mental and moral faculties. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY EEVEALED. 87 

be reflected upon all the other facts connected with it. It 
is by this light, and by this light only, that clearness can 
ever be brought into the dark recesses of metaphysical 
science ; by this light — apprehended, of course, not in word 
and letter merely, but in life and spirit — the facts of man's 
immortal nature, the operations of his soul, hitherto en- 
veloped in such deep mystery — will become as accessible 
to inquiry, as easy of comprehension, as any the most 
common fact of natural philosophy has hitherto been. 
We pride ourselves much in the certainty of our know- 
ledge in those matters, which admit of the evidence of the 
senses, forgetting that the senses are the most fallible part 
of us ; but how much greater that certainty, which would 
have for its foundation the evidence of divine light, en- 
lightening the faculties of our soul, if we knew but how to 
submit our scientific investigations to the influence of that 
light. It is undeniably a proof of the deep hold which 
corruption has upon man's nature, that after so clear a re- 
velation of spiritual things, as the Christian dispensation 
involves, man should still be bold enough to seek for any 
knowledge on human ground — that he should still have 
sciences not comprehended within the range of divine know- 
ledge ; that he should still consider the knowledge, which 
God imparts by his Spirit, less comprehensive than that, 
which man acquires, as he supposes, by his own faculties ; 
or rather, that he should still attribute to his own faculties 
any of that knowledge, the source of which has been so 
distinctly pointed out to him. I trust, however, that this 
dark period is now at its close ; the conviction is firm upon 
my mind, that it will form part of that great reform, to 
which I am looking forward, that all knowledge what- 
soever, whether it concern the things of God, or the things 
of man, or outward creation, will be derived from, and at- 
tributed to, the one universal source of all light and life, to 
Him, in whom we live and move, and have our being — so 
that, not only with regard to what is called religious 
knowledge, but with regard to all knowledge, of every de- 



88 THE FACULTIES AND THE MOVING POWERS. 

scription, the prophecy will be fulfilled, that they shall all 
be taught of the Lord. Then will the distinction between 
religious and worldly knowledge cease, inasmuch as, then, 
all knowledge will be religious. This reform will require, 
on the part of the unbelieving world, a deep humiliation 
of that proud and vain spirit, which attributes to the ' light 
of reason' all praise and glory.; and on the part of the 
believing world, no less a humiliation of that doctrinal and 
unwarrantable conceit, which opposes itself to the farther 
teachings of the Spirit of God, on the ground of what 
He has taught already. If it be asked, in what depart- 
ment of human knowledge that reform is to begin, the 
answer is, decidedly : in the knowledge of man''s mental 
and moral powers; as that knowledge, which declares 
itself, although it is not, independent of the divine light, 
began with the knowledge of the things that are without, 
so will that new knowledge, which is, avowedly and con- 
sciously derived from that light, begin with the know- 
ledge of the things that are within. 

Then we shall hear no longer of the philosophy of the 
human mind, which attributes to the faculties of the soul 
an innate power of action, either collectively or indivi- 
dually ; for the faculties will then be distinguished, as they 
ought to be, from the powers that move them. Much of 
the ignorant arrogance of the rationalists, much of the con- 
fusion of religionists, might be avoided by this distinc- 
tion alone. The former would be less confident in the 
infallibility of their conclusions, when drawn according to 
the laws of thinking ; and the latter would not practically 
disavow, in part, the important doctrine of the fall, by the 
unwarrantable supposition that our reasoning faculties do 
not partake in a corruption, which is represented as being 
confined to our feelings. It would then be seen, that our 
faculties, whether they be faculties of reason, or of moral 
feeling, or of conscience, have not in themselves any posi- 
tive power or impulse of action, and, consequently, neither a 
good nor an evil tendency ; — for where there is no tendency 



CENTRAL POINT OF ALL THE FACULTIES. 89 

at all, how can there be a determination ? — but that they 
are all brought into action, and kept in it, either by the 
evil spirit of man, which, in his fallen condition, is his 
natural impulse, or by the good Spirit of God, which 
was his natural impulse in his original state, and will be so 
again in a state of perfect regeneration — and that, con- 
sequently, his reason is fallacious, or consistent with truth, 
his moral feeling defiled or pure, his conscience sophis- 
ticated or conformable to the standard of righteousness, 
according to the spirit by which they are governed. The 
practical consequence of this view, with reference to educa- 
tion, is obvious ; viz., the duty of the parent or teacher to 
restrain, as far as possible, the evil spirit of man from 
swaying the faculties of the child ; and to manifest to the 
child, in conversation and conduct, in instruction and disci- 
pline, those virtues Avhich are the effect of the operations of 
the good Spirit of God upon man's soul, — that the evil 
spirit in the child may not find in his parent or teacher 
that with which it can hold communication, and so may be 
forced, at least in a measure, to give way to tlie impulses 
of that good spirit, in which alone the child ought to be 
linked together with those who undertake the care of his 
education. 

Another important truth, connected with this view of 
psychology, is, the centralization of all the faculties of the 
soul, in one point of harmony, for one universal purpose. 
Different purposes are commonly assigned to different 
faculties : and, although, in the present state of man, this 
may appear to be the case, it ought not to be forgotten, 
that this is a consequence of the fall, in which the original 
purpose, as well as the original impulse, was lost, as far, at 
least, as man's own will and knowledge are concerned. 
The evil spirit of self, which sways man in that condition, 
finding a world of faculties, a microcosm, in the soul, cor- 
responding with the universe of creation, but rejecting the 
purpose for which they were given, uses them as instru- 
ments, by which the universe may be turned into a rich 



90 DEPAllTUEE OF MAN FROM THAT CENTRE. 

source of self-gratification. They were given, as so many 
channels, through which the soul, internally united with 
God, and enlivened by him, might commune with him, in 
his creation, which is the vesture of his glory : but, in his 
fallen condition, man perverts these channels to the drink- 
ing in of all the influences of creation, with a view to sus- 
tain, enrich, and enlarge the false life, which the soul has 
without God. He has rejected the power, to which they 
ought to be subservient. Unable to keep them in har- 
mony, by his evil spirit, he engages them in the service 
of the created things, after the enjoyment of which, self 
thirsteth, and thus, unawares, he himself, and his rebellious 
spirit, fall under the bondage of the things that were made. 
Hence the appearance of a peculiar purpose, to every 
faculty of man's nature, which is owing to nothing but 
this inversion of the original order. According to God's 
intention, the whole creation would have ministered to the 
divine life in man, through the faculties of man, these 
being in subservience to the divine life ; but, by the fall, it 
came to pass, that the faculties of man are the slaves of 
creation, and man himself the slave of his faculties, and, 
through them, of every created thing. The task which 
education has to perform, in this state of things, is again 
obvious. Education has, avowedly, for its object, to give 
employment to the different faculties of the soul ; to direct 
their action, and furnish materials for their exercise : 
whence it follows, that these materials must be of such a 
nature, and must be presented in such a manner, as to offer 
no nutriment to the spirit of self ; — but that, by the choice 
of the objects of instruction, as well as by the method 
adopted in conveying it, the faculties are to be turned back, 
as it were, upon that indwelling centre of harmony, from 
which they are turned away, and devoted again to their 
original purpose. 

Nothing can be more sublime, or more edifying, because 
nothing more illustrative of the wisdom and goodness of 
God, than the view of the mental and moral organization 



MAN NOT MADE FOR THE EARTH. 91 

of man, when seen in this light. From the lowest stage of 
perception, when fixed upon individual facts, to the highest 
degree of illumination, when apprehending the universal, 
omnipresent, and ever-living spirit, there is a regular, well 
connected progress of intellectual and spiritual life. The 
same order, the same harmony, which we admire in God's 
creation, as far as it is opened to our view, prevail in the 
mind of man, when properly regulated. The lower things 
are ministering to things that are higher, and all are 
prostrated before the One, whose glories are unspeak- 
able. 

To behold this divine spectacle, and , still more, to act in 
the spirit of it, we must forget every purpose under the 
sun ; — for " all the works that are done under the sun," 
are " vanity and vexation of spirit." And, because they 
are so, it is impossible, that any of the faculties of man's 
immortal soul, should have them for their object. That 
Avhich is imperishable, cannot be made for the sake of that 
which is perishable, for it is against nature, that is to say, 
against the order of things, as established by God, that 
any thing should outlive its purpose. 

What are the earthly ends which man proposes to him- 
self, such as the improvement of his domicile, the enjoy- 
ment of comforts, or the acquisition of wealth, large 
possessions, or an extensive acquaintance with nature — what 
are all those things which man can acquire, or possess, or 
enjoy on this earth ? What are they but vanity and vexa- 
tion of spirit ? Are they not all perishable ? Does not 
their lustre, in most instances, wear off even before the 
short-lived career of the deluded pilgrim is concluded ? 
And though they might continue, to the last moment of 
life, to afford gratification, and to retain a stimulating and 
exciting influence, what remains of them and of their influ- 
ence when the hand of death closes the scenes of this earth 
upon us, — when all its treasures must be abandoned, — and 
all its purposes are defeated by the failing of a breath ? 
Or, what are the social ends by which our existence is 



92 ' THE EARTH MADE FOR MAN. 

SO much swallowed up — such as high station and a great 
name, power, and popularity, the silence of admiration, 
or the shout of approbation, or such as the protection of 
commerce, the encouragement of the fine and useful arts, 
the spread of knowledge, the enlargement of science, the 
-pursuits of various studies, the establishment and improve- 
ment of public institutions, the promotion of national pros- 
perity, and the increase of national grandeur and glory — 
what are they all but vanity and vexation of spirit ? Are 
they not all perishable ? Do they not leave in those who 
spend their lives in pursuit of them, the sting of a vacant 
existence ? Or, if the gratification of apparent and mo- 
mentary success, and the little vanity of handing down a 
great name to posterity, should keep up the delusion as 
long as the display lasts, what will become of all those 
notions of human grandeur, when brought to that standard, 
which eternity will apply to the things of time ? And what 
will remain of the loftiest structures of human ingenuity, 
when the heavens shall depart, as a scroll when it is rolled 
together, when mountains and islands will be moved out 
of their places ? 

Who, that considers these things in their true light, and 
estimates them according to their intrinsic value, can, for a 
moment, suppose that the human soul and its faculties, 
destined as they are for immortality, can be made for those 
inferior purposes ? Is it not evident, on the contrary, that 
all those things which keep man under bondage, are created 
for him ; that he, and the restoration of his being to the 
original likeness of his Maker, is the great purpose to 
which all the things of the earth, and all the relations of 
society ought to be subservient ? Is it not evident that 
they are nothing but a stage of exercise and of trial, to 
afford room for the expansion and in vigor ation of those 
faculties, which, by the fall, were contracted in selfishness, 
and lost their power, by alienation from their true life. 
And is it not evident, therefore, that the education of every 
individual, without exception, should have for its object, 



IN THIS ALL MEN EQUAL. 93 

to render him conscious of that one and universal purpose, 
for which all his faculties were created, and to lead him to 
use them in subjection to that centre of harmony, that 
power of light and life, by which alone they can be rightly 
directed, as by it they were made ? 

Who is there, to whom an education different from this 
should be imparted ; or, who is there, that stands not in 
need of this education ? Who is there, whom society dare 
to pronounce incapable or unworthy of it ; or, how can 
any community of men deserve the name of a Christian 
community, unless it give to every one of its children this 
education, which concentrates the whole man in Christ ? 
How can it lay claim to any participation in the member- 
ship of Christ, and the love which he beareth to his 
church, unless, in the name, and through the power, of 
Christ, it fulfil, in its place and in its measure, the Father''s 
will, " that of all which he gave to be Christ's, and which 
he has confided to the guardianship of Christ's church, 
nothing be lost." 



94 



LECTUUE IV. 



How FAll IS THE EDUCATION OF A CHILD TO BE REGU- 
LATED ACCORDING TO HIS l^ATFRAL CAPACITIES, AXD 
HOW FAR MUST EXTER^IAL CIRCUMSTANCES BE PER- 
MITTED TO AFFECT IT ? 

The view which has been taken of the preceduig ques- 
tion must, as vou are easily aware, in a great measure, 
determine the answer to be given to the one now under 
consideration ; and I have, therefore, to request of you, 
that, in following my arguments through this lecture, you 
win bear in mind the leading points discussed in the last. 
This will be the more necessary, as a variety of topics, 
connected with the last question, have been reserved for the 
present lecture, in order to avoid repetition, which, owing 
to the affinity of the two questions, must otherwise inevita- 
bly have taken place. 

If we cast a short reviewing glance upon the opinions 
prevailing among the public, or advanced by diiFerent 
writers, on the subject now before us, we shall find, that 
they are all comprehended in two classes, utterly opposed 
to each other. The one contains all the modifications of 
that system, which has, at present, the upper hand in 
society, and according to wliich man's education is entirely 



PREVAILING VIEWS OF THIS SUBJECT. \jO 

dependent on the circumstances under which he is bom, 
admitting from this general rule but a few rare excep- 
tions, and these only, because the history of some of the 
most eminent and the most excellent men, is an insur- 
mountable obstacle to the universal application of the 
vulgar theory, that the distinctions of rank are connected 
with the intrinsic value of the individual. The other class, 
in which some of the most exalted minds have collected 
small crowds of discontented and clamorous followers, 
would level all the distinctions of society, and, in educa- 
tion, as in every thing else, would concoct a national 
porridge, of which all should partake in a perfectly equal 
measure. That neither of the two systems is correct, must 
become evident at the first attempt to put them in practice ; 
the former is too contracted, the latter too superficial to 
answer the demands of real life. Nevertheless, in spite of 
this experience, every one follows his own views, as far 
as circumstances, and a better feeling, unconsciously dwell- 
ing in his bosom, will permit him to do so ; for, happily 
for mankind, they succeed no better in carrying through 
their erroneous and perverse systems in perfect consistency, 
than they generally do in the endeavour to realize those 
great and sublime truths, which have descended from 
heaven to earth, in order to transform the earth into a 
heaven. This incapability of man, to make himself and 
his posterity a complete victim to the perversity of his 
own notions and purposes, although it may aiford some 
relief to those, who might otherwise despair at the view of 
so many exertions, which are making, from generation to 
generation, in a direction diametrically opposed to that in 
which God intends to lead our species, is not, however, a 
sufficient counterpoise to the effects of ignorance and preju- 
.dice in the eyes of him, who is not contented to see the 
frame of human society outwardly upheld, and, perhaps, 
improved, but who considers an increase of the intrinsic 
value of man, as the only object of civilization, and as the 
only test of its true progress. He must go deeper; he 



96 MAN HAS NO RIGHT TO KNOWLEDGE. 

cannot rest satisfied with the conviction, that, by the inter- 
position of a merciful Providence, the gates of darkness are 
not permitted to prevail against man ; he must inquire into 
the origin of those errors, which, although checked in their 
effect upon society, yet produce results deplorable enough 
to rouse the attention of every friend of humanity. 

I have, on a former occasion, observed, that men would 
generally do better, in the examination of questions con- 
cerning the institutions and relations of society, to take for 
their guide the nature of their duties, than the nature of 
their rights. The same remark applies, in a very striking 
manner, to the question, how far the education of a child 
is to be regulated according to his natural capacities, and 
how far external circumstances should be permitted to 
affect it ? If we endeavour to bolve this question, on the 
ground commonly taken, by asking : How much is the child 
capable of knowing according to his natural capacities, 
and how much has he a right to know, according to the 
length of his father's purse ? — it is evident that we shall be 
involved in a host of inconsistencies and contradictions, of 
which it is not, perhaps, the worst, that while we acknow- 
ledge a measure given by God, in the natural capacities, we 
so far disregard this measure, that we would allow, nay, 
often, try, to enforce more, where the circumstances of the 
parent seem to us to call for " a higher education ;"" and, on 
the other hand, we invariably prohibit much of that, which 
God appears to have permitted, because, we say, it is be- 
yond the child's station in society. Out of this labyrinth 
there is no other way, than at once to dismiss the idea of 
any right to more or less knowledge, to more or less culti - 
vation of the mind, and to inquire into the nature and 
measure of the duty which devolves or may devolve on 
every individual. The first advantage to be derived from 
this basis of inquiry, for the solution of our present ques- 
tion, is, that the different gifts of Providence, would be 
weighed according to their intrinsic value, and not, as is 
the case in the common view of the subject, according to 



DUTY OF MAN TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE. 97 

their importance, in a worldly point of view, in the present 
condition of society. It would, then, be acknowledged, that 
the measure of talent, with which every individual is gifted, 
determines the measure of intellectual and moral exertion for 
which he is destined, — in the years of education, more exclu- 
sively for the development of his own mind, and in after life, 
likewise for the benefit, that is to say, the internal improve- 
ment, of his fellow creatures; and this measure of intellectual 
and moral exertion, would not be looked upon, as it now 
is too often, as a means of gratifying himself, and others, 
accordingly as he may, or may not, feel disposed ; but it 
would be considered, in its true light, as a sacred obli- 
gation, for the neglect, or imperfect discharge of which, 
the individual himself, as well as every one that has con- 
tributed to divert or prevent him from it, is highly 
responsible. If this be true, with reference to common 
talents, and capacities, how much more eminently will it 
prove true, when applied to genius. This heavenly gift, 
this incorporation, as it were, of the divine idea in the 
faculties of mau;, how little has it been understood, how 
profanely abused, in most cases, both by those to whom the 
gift was imparted, and by the multitude, for whose benefit 
it was given. Genius, whatever be the direction in which 
it manifests itself, whether in the- compositions of the pen- 
cil, or in the lofty regions of poetic thought, in the modu- 
lations of harmonious notes, or in the strains of sacred 
eloquence, is a manifestation of the divine mind ; it is, as 
it were, the breath of God, going over the creature, and 
imparting life to its works. It is not a meteor, cast 
upon the earth, at random, for the vain glory of its own 
splendour, or for the amazement of the spectator ; it is a 
light of God, imparted for a specific purpose, for the pur- 
pose of carrying on his work, in a peculiar manner, by 
peculiar means, according to the peculiar wants of the 
nation, and of the age in which the genius appears. The 
geniuses which have risen up, at different periods, in the 
history of mankind, fill the same place in the progress of 



98 GENIUS AN ELECTION. 

human civilization, which is nothing else than the divine 
guidance of our species, veiled and hidden, as the prophets 
of old did in the history of the Jewish Church, which is 
the divine guidance of man, explained and revealed ; both 
are, in their appointed spheres, the privileged diviners, 
whose sight is illumined; the chosen instruments, whose 
hand is armed with the strength of the Lord. Hence, as 
the prophets rose up in the critical days of the Jewish his- 
tory, so have geniuses always risen up at those great epochs 
in human history, when, upon the dying stem of the past, 
a new life was ingrafted ; in every such spiritual revela- 
tion, some eminent genius has been instrumental ; nor 
was he suffered to stand solitary, but he was always sup- 
ported by the simultaneous influence of kindred minds 
upon the mass, although, perhaps, the connexion between 
them might not be outwardly perceptible, nay, they might 
even stand in apparent opposition to each other. As a 
gift of God, destined for the accomplishment of his pur- 
poses, genius partakes of the nature of election, and is sub- 
ject to its laws Thus, for instance, the popular feeling 
with regard to the strayings of men of genius, makes good, 
although in an abusive sense, the Apostle's word : " Who 
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ?" And, 
on the other hand, the effect which a lawless course of 
life in men of genius, produces, renders the parallel not 
only more true, more close, but also, for those that are so 
gifted, more awful. Take the history of any man of 
genius, and you will find, that the office for which he was 
called, was fulfilled by him, whether obedient or dis- 
obedient to his calling. The ideas which he is des- 
tined to make manifest to the world, of the promulgation 
of which, he may, if he choose to acknowledge his election, 
and to fulfil its duties, make himself the successful and 
blessed instrument, will, if he choose to strive against them, 
be made manifest upon him, as an exemplification of their 
truth. As the Jews, the elect witnesses of God for the 
truth of his revelation, rejected their election, at the 
moment, when they were called upon to fulfil its highest 



GENIUS AN ELECTION. 99 

and most blessed duty, and yet, are obliged, by the very 
consequences of their disobedience, to bear the witness 
which was required of them : so, likewise, must a genius, 
by the wildest aberrations of his mind, by the grossest 
profanation of his calling, necessarily become a beacon of 
those very ideas, which, by a life of faith and love, he 
might have illustrated in all the radiancy of heavenly light. 
The purpose of God is fixed, and unalterable ; he, who is 
called to accomplish it, is free to turn it into a blessing, or 
into a curse, to himself ; but still, he must fulfil the will of 
Him, who knoweth the balancings of the clouds. When 
brought to this test, how profane does the vulgar notion 
appear, that genius is a sort of natural eminence, which 
entitles the possessor to a more extensive enjoyment of 
life, to the highest admiration of his fellow-creatures, and 
even to a sort of exemption from the common laws of 
morality ! What an awful light does this view throw 
upon the baneful consequences, which that vulgar notion, 
and its influence upon education, has entailed upon so 
many a man of genius, involving him in deep ruin, and 
making him a sign in his generation ! And how is all this 
to be accounted for ? Is it not, by that fatal, and still 
unexploded mistake, of asking, on every occasion — What 
rights does this insure to us ? — instead of inquiring, what 
are our duties .'' 

Therefore, as has been done, with a view to ascertain 
the relative duties of the family and of society, to provide 
for the education of their children, so, likewise, with 
reference to the present question, a new principle must be 
laid down. It must be acknowledged, in the first instance, 
as regards the natural capacities of the child, that, what- 
ever measure of them every individual is gifted with, it is 
the duty of those that educate him, to develop and cul- 
tivate them ; and, farther, that the degree, to which this 
is to be done, is not to be limited in any wise, considering 
that the immortal part of man is neither finite in itself, 
nor destined for a finite existence. 

H 2 



100 REGARD TO CIRCUMSTANCES IN EDUCATION. 

It remains then, for us to inquire, in the second instance, 
how far external circumstances must be permitted to affect 
the cliild's education. On the same ground of duty the 
answer is very simple and very easy. The question is not . 
" This child is possessed of such and such means to buy 
enjoyment and gratification : what sort of enjoyment is 
then to be fixed upon, as the chief object to which his edu- 
cation shall be directed .?" — Or, in another case : " This 
child is not possessed of any, or only of very small means 
of buying enjoyment and gratification — Avhat mode of 
acquiring those means is, then, to be selected for him, and 
made the object of liis education .''"" But the question is : 
" This child will, in all human probability, be possessed of 
such or such an extent of means, vmder such and such cir- 
cumstances, — what education, then, must be given to him, 
in order to lead, and to enable him, to employ all those 
means for good purposes ? What must be done to preserve 
him from that great snare, into which the wealthy so often 
fall, to think too much of the outward means of doing good, 
and to depreciate, or, at' least, not sufficiently to appreciate 
those more important means, which God has appointed to 
man in his mental faculties, and in spiritual gifts ?'''' Or, 
if the individual be not possessed of outward means, 
" What education must he receive, in order to learn to 
dispense with the riches, or the power of this earth, and to 
pursue the laboiu*s of his calling, unimpeded by the 
shackles of an outwardly unfavourable position ?''"' These 
are the questions, which we must ask, to ascertain how far 
the education of children is to be affected by external cir- 
cumstances. Accordingly as, by the order of Providence, 
they do or do not possess outward means, they must be 
tauo-ht to turn them to account, for the fulfilment of their 
duty, or to dispense with them. 

He alone, who is so educated, is well educated for his 
circumstances, if they remain unchanged, and likewise well 
educated for a change of his circumstances, if Providence 
should so decree it. If the affluent man was made to feel. 



MAN HAS NO ABSOLUTE KIGHT TO POSSESS. 101 

that he has no right to his possessions, but in proportion as 
he employs them for good purposes^ how free would he be 
from the wish of accumulating more and more, and how 
free from regret, if, in consequence of his exertions, or by 
some contingency, his means should be diminished. At the 
greatest losses he could no more feel hurt, than an agent in 
delivering up to his employer the sums which he adminis- 
tered for him, and which he never considered as his own ! 
And how powerfully would the general diffusion of such 
principles tend to restore that equilibrium in society, which 
is now entirely lost by the accumulation of immense means 
in the hands of a feAv, that know not how to use them, and 
the entire destitution of so many, who cannot find any way 
of acquiring even the little they want. If no man claimed, 
or endeavoured to acquire, one groat beyond what he stands 
immediately in need of, for the fulfilment, not of his imagi- 
nary, but of his real duties, how easy would it be for every 
man to acquire that much. If, by one magic stroke, this 
effect could be produced upon the minds of men, so that 
every one would give up, whatever he does not want for the 
accomplishment of some really good purpose, according to 
his peculiar calling, and according to the degree of his 
moral capacity to be an agent of good, what immense 
treasures would then, in one instant, become " res nul- 
lius.'" It would then become evident, that mankind, in 
general, have thrown their power far too much upon the 
acquisition or the preparation of objects of enjoyment ; and 
the surplus, which would be found in the aggregate result 
of their labours for these purposes, would sufficiently 
account for the fearful neglect of their moral and religious 
cultivation. The measure, in which that disproportion 
exists, in every nation, would bring to light, what now is 
enveloped in comparative darkness, viz. how far it has 
walked in the path of the Lord, pursuing the true course 
of human culture, or how far it has departed from the 
right way, and, in bondage to the spirit of this world, has 
worked out a false and morally ruinous civilization. These 



102 NATIONAL TENDENCY FOR WEALTH. 

remarks may appear to some to be foreign to the present 
purpose ; but I would beg to remind them, that it is of 
the highest importance, that the subject of education should 
not only be viewed with reference to the individual who is 
to be educated, but likewise in a national point of view, in- 
asmuch as it is the whole nation upon whom the duty of 
education devolves, and as the state of the nation, its im- 
provement, or its ruin, depends, in a great measure, upon 
the education which it imparts. On the other hand, it is 
clear, that, whatever spirit the nation is possessed of, that 
spirit will be communicated to the rising generations ; and 
if it be an evil spirit, will, in course of time, bring ruin 
and destruction upon the whole nation ; unless, indeed, it 
be arrested in its course by a warning voice, and led to 
repent and to retrace its steps. Thus if it should be found, 
that, in this nation, there is a tendency for the immoderate 
acquisition of wealth, irrespectively of any duty, for the 
fulfilment of which that wealth is required, but upon the 
assumption of a general right to acquire, to accumulate, 
and to enjoy : is it not evident, that this false tendency will 
be implanted in every individual brought up in the nation ; 
and is it not, if such be the case, high time that inquiry 
should be made, what manner of spirit it is, which the 
nation thus instils in the bosom of its rising members .'' 

I need not be at any trouble to prove that such a false ten- 
dency actually exists ; it is a fact, not only admitted on all 
hands, but even boasted of by many ; nor does it seem neces- 
sary, after all that has been said, to enter into a long argu- 
ment, in order to prove that it is an unchristian tendency,one 
which has its root in social principles of pagan origin, and 
its support in the corruption, the innate selfishness, of the 
human heart. Supposing this to be admitted, I shall now 
proceed to the inquiry, what are the distinctions to be 
made in education, upon the principle, that every indivi- 
dual is to be taught all that he has a duty to learn, and 
nothing ivhich he has not a duty to learn, according to the 
measure and peculiar character of his natural capacity, as 



REGARD TO THE MENTAL FACULTIES. 103 

well as to the outward means of action, of which he is, or 
will be possessed. 

In the first instance, it is to be observed, that the 
faculties of the human mind are, in kind, common to all 
men, that is to say, that, in all men, the same facul- 
ties of the soul are to be found, although, in every 
man, in different degrees of power, and, consequently, 
differently combined. This being the case, and all the 
faculties being destined to work together, under the in- 
fluence of one central power of life and harmony, it is 
evident, that no distinction ought to be made respecting 
the cultivation of some faculties in some, and of other 
faculties in other individuals, but that in every individual, 
whatever be his capacities or his station, all the faculties 
ought to be brought into play. But as the faculties do not 
exist in all individuals, in the same degrees of power, it is 
evident, that education ought to pay regard to this 
difference, and that, therefore, according to the natural 
capacities of every individual, or to the degree of power, in 
which he is possessed of each faculty, a distinction should 
be made, as regards the degree of cultivation, which dif- 
ferent individuals ought to receive in different respects. 
Hence it follows, not only, that different individuals must 
be differently instructed, but also, that, in one and the 
same individual, different degrees of care and attention 
must be bestowed upon different faculties. In this, we 
ought entirely to fallow the indications of nature, and 
never to attempt making any individual unlike what he is 
intended to be. The present plan is, to appoint a general 
measure of cultivation for all, and to endeavoiu", as much 
as possible, to bring every individual to that measure ; as 
if there was a common standard of human mind, to which, 
as a pattern of perfection, all should be made to approach as 
near as possible. This is, however, as senseless a proceed- 
ing, as if a gardener were to attempt to train all his apple- 
trees, of whatever sort they be, into one particular sort, 
instead of cultivating every one " after its kind," to the 



104 REGARD TO THE FUTURE SPHERE OF ACTION. 

highest degree of perfection, of which it is capable. In the 
same manner, as such a proceeding, on the part of the 
gardener, would spoil all the different sorts, except the one 
he has fixed upon, so, likewise, our education must de- 
cidedly ruin the different sorts of minds, in proportion as 
they differ from the universal standard, which we have 
arbitrarily set up ; even if it were, as it is not, a perfect 
one : whereas, on the contrary, if we paid regard to the 
measure, and peculiar combination of the faculties of every 
individual, we should see a far greater number of original 
minds, and, in general, a higher degree of capacity, than is 
now observable. 

Next to this distinction, founded upon the psychical 
organization of the individual, there is another necessary, 
according to the external circumstances in which he is, and 
probably Avill be placed. This distinction, it is plain, can 
have nothing to do with the degree to which each faculty 
is to be cultivated, as this depends on the inherent power of 
the faculty. We must, therefore, inquire, what relation, 
generally, our external position bears to our mind ; and we 
shall find, that the station in which we are placed, whatever 
it be, is the sphere in which the mind is exercised. Our 
outward circumstances are not, nor should they ever be, 
considered as any more than the scope of action appointed 
to us by Providence. Thus, for instance, the engagements 
of an agriculturist present altogether a different sphere of 
life, although, perhaps, for the exercise of the very same 
faculties, from those of an artisan, or of a manufacturer. 
The contact which a gardener has with nature, is very 
different from that of a sailor, or of an astronomer ; and 
yet the same faculties are called into action in every one. 
That to these differences some attention should be paid, 
and adequate distinctions introduced, is unquestionable; 
but it ought to be done subsequently and subordinately to 
the distinction founded upon the difference of power in the 
different faculties, from reasons, into which I forbear 
entering here, as this subject will again come under consi- 



WHAT DISTINCTIONS OUGHT TO OBTAIN. 105 

deration. For the present, I will sum up the result of 
what has been said, in the following manner : — 

1st. — The different faculties, which constitute man's 
mind, call for corresponding branches of instruction, as 
the means of developing and cultivating those faculties ; 
and as the latter are essentially the same in all individuals, 
it follows, that the chief branches of instruction should be 
common to the education of all. 

2d. — The degree of power in which each faculty is to 
be met with in every individual, determines the degree of 
cultivation which it ought to receive, comparatively to 
other faculties ; and as the former varies in different indi- 
viduals, and with reference to different faculties, so must 
the latter. 

3d. — The station in society in which the individual 
is placed, determines the sphere in which his faculties will 
have to act, and, therefore, the department of each branch 
of knowledge, which is to be appropriated to their culti- 
vation, and which must vary, for different individuals, ac- 
cording to their different stations. 

Thus, then, all men are to be instructed essentially in 
the same branches of knowledge, but in different degrees, 
and in different directions. 

Having so far ascertained, where distinctions ought to 
be made, and where not, it will now be necessary that I 
should proceed to a short sketch of the human faculties, 
in order to ascertain what cultivation they require. In 
my last lecture, I have called your attention to the impor- 
tant distinction, which is to be made between the faculties 
themselves, and the two agents by which they are im- 
pelled to action, the one the good spirit of God, and the 
other the evil spirit of man ; and I shall now have to in- 
troduce another distinction between different sorts of facul- 
ties, according to the different provinces of life to which 
they are appropriated. In this respect, they are to be 
divided into three great classes, viz. : — 



106 CLASSIFICATION OF THE FACULTIES. 

1. — Faculties appertaining to our existence, as physical 
beings. 

2. — Faculties appertaining to our existence, as human 
beings. 

3. — Faculties appertaining to our existence, in and with 
God. 

Through the first class of faculties we are made subject 
to what is called physical necessity ; that is to say, the 
absolute manifestation of the law and power of God in 
nature. They are the first, whose activity becomes mani- 
fest in childhood ; for, although the simultaneous but latent 
working of the others, is constantly attested by experience, 
yet a decided predominance of life is observed in the former. 
Through them the infant is first brought into contact with 
the Divine will, and subjected to the influence of its opera- 
tions ; the necessity which pervades those operations on one 
hand, and the helpless and unconscious condition of the 
child on the other, co-operate to produce, at the dawn of life, 
a state of submission. The rebellious soul then first learns, 
that it is unable to perform, or to obtain, all that it willeth 
and wishes ; from its natural state of absolute lawlessness, 
it is, in some degree, brought into subjection to law, and 
prepared for the period, when another law will be set 
before it, with freedom to obey, or to disobey. As the first 
preparatory step to the subduing of self-will in the soul, 
the intercourse of the child with nature, and with every 
other influence that reaches him through his senses, is of 
the greatest importance, and ought to be carefully culti- 
vated, with a view to render it conducive to that purpose. 
Unfortunately, however, we disturb that intercourse, in- 
stead of facilitating it ; we interfere between the child and 
nature, instead of contenting ourselves to direct the move- 
ments of the former. We have not learned for ourselves 
to view nature as a rich source, not only of instruction for 
the intellect, but also of moral discipline ; we look upon it 
as a field of gratification and enjoyment for ourselves, and 



PHYSICAL AND MORAL EDUCATION CONNECTED. 107 

we do all in our power to put our children into the same 
false position, and to nurture in them the same false 
spirit. Thereby we render them slaves of their sensual 
nature, and, through it, of the outward world, instead of 
educating them to that dominion over the earth, for which 
man is intended. This dominion, which ought to be sought 
in subjection to the law of God, and with a view to the 
glory of God, is claimed in bondage to the law of self- 
will, and with a view to self-gratification. The relation in 
which man is to stand to one part of creation, is, from the 
beginning, deranged ; and, of course, as a proper direction 
of the child, in this relation, would have had a beneficial 
influence upon the development of other faculties, so the 
mismanagement of this first step of education has a pre- 
judicial effect upon the subsequent periods. 

Nothing can be more erroneous than the common notion 
of separating physical from intellectual and moral educa- 
tion, as if the former had for its object, only, the physical 
nature of the child. This is one of the consequences of 
that oversight of the original unity of purpose, on which 
I have enlarged in my last lecture. If that unity was 
apprehended, and the faculties were all cultivated in refe- 
rence to it, the physical education of the child would, as 
it ought to do, form the beginning of its intellectual and 
moral education. We should then watch, with solicitude, 
the first conscious movements of the child's eye and hand ; 
the first attempts at articulated sound ; we should study 
both, the spontaneous impulses of his self-activity, and the 
tendency manifested in the manner, in which he yields and 
attends to the impressions made upon him. Thus, to in- 
stance one of the many important considerations, which 
we ought to keep in view, we might ascertain the pro- 
portion, which spontaneity and receptivity, activity and 
passivity, bear to each other, in general, and in the exer- 
cise of each particular faculty ; and we might be enabled 
to judge, likewise, which of the two agents before men- 
tioned presides, at different times, over different operations. 



108 FEELING AND INTELLECT. 

It is not SO difficult, as might be supposed by some, to dis- 
cover whether the child, when exerting his energies, is impel- 
led by the power of life, directing him to such objects, and 
such experiments, as will become to him a source of in- 
struction and discipline, and fill his soul with the heavenly 
satisfaction of having recognized, or expressed, something 
divine ; — or, whether he is swayed by the evil spirit of 
self, inciting him to an endless, and impassioned exercise 
of his powers, from which he can only derive the momen- 
tary gratification of having indulged a wanton caprice, and, 
as an immediate consequence of it, the dissatisfaction of 
internal restlessness. The same distinction is to be made, 
when the child is passive, lending itself, as it were, to the 
activity of others ; in one case, there is a look of calm de- 
light, or of anxious inquiry ; in the other case, the ex- 
pression of greedy desire. Another important point, for 
the knowledge of the human character, is, the proportion 
in which intellect and feeling are combined, in every indi- 
vidual, and by which the preponderance of some facul- 
ties over others is determined. For, whilst spontaneity 
and receptivity are inherent in every faculty, rendering it 
capable] of the two different, though sometimes simul- 
taneous, operations of giving and receiving, of pouring 
forth and imbibing : — the two other opposites, and, at the 
same time, correlatives, intellect and feeling, divide be- 
tween themselves, with a few exceptions, the whole range 
of the faculties, and, consequently, their opposition and 
co-operation is observable at the earliest period of infancy. 
The faculty for the perception of space, for instance, 
appertains to feeling ; whilst that for the apprehension of 
time, is an intellectual faculty. For the reception of all 
the impressions, conveyed through space, we have two 
faculties ; the one belonging to feeling, whose object is light, 
and its modifications, shade and colour ; the other, an in- 
tellectual one, appropriated to the conception, or, if spon- 
taneously exerted, to the creation of form and shape ; and, 
in the same manner, there are two faculties, corresponding 



IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST DEVELOPJFEXT. 109 

with the impressions received through time, — the one a 
faculty of feeling, for the reception or creation of sound, 
and the other an intellectual faculty, whose object is num- 
ber. The different degrees of intrinsic poAver, in which 
every individual is gifted with these and other faculties 
of the same order, the measure of activity or passivity, 
which is manifested through them, and the extent to which 
they are under the controul of the good or the evil agent in 
man, determine the character of that intricate being, called, 
the human mind, at the first stage of life, when the facul- 
ties, appertaining to man's existence as a physical being, 
have the principal share in the development of the inner 
man ; the faculties of the two remaining classes growing, 
at that period, as it were, under ground. That there are 
symptoms, by which we can ascertain those different facts, 
in every child ; that these symptoms are, every day, every 
hour, every moment, displayed before our eyes ; and that 
there is, in our own minds, a capability of apprehending 
and understanding them, who will deny ? That the know- 
ledge of them, and of the character, of which they bear 
witness, is the indispensable condition of our exerting a 
correct, and, therefore, a beneficial influence upon the 
child, at that period of life ; and that, upon that influence, 
and its effects, in the child's mind, the character and effi- 
ciency of our influ ence, at subsequent stages, entirely depends , 
who will' contradict ? How, then, is it to be accounted 
for, that, at a period when such interesting observations 
can be made, and so decisive an influence exercised, mothers 
should consider, and treat their infants, as little animals ; 
and fathers think them unworthy of their notice ? Is there 
any other evidence required, to convict us of that fearful 
moral indolence, with which we set aside the most im- 
portant facts, if they lie any deeper than the evidence of 
our senses, or the most superficial reflection can penetrate, 
and neglect the most important duties, if they are not 
urged upon us by the necessities of our earthly subsist- 
ence .'* The thousand vain and vexatious purposes, to 



110 SECOND STAGE OF EDUCATION. 

which we have subjected ourselves, so entirely absorb our 
energies, that the most immediate objects of our care and 
attention are entirely forgotten ; and the mass of presump- 
tuous and superficial knowledge, with which we fill our 
heads, renders us so completely blind, that we have not a 
faculty left for the apprehension of truth, when presented 
to us in that divine simplicity, in which it is exhibited and 
illustrated in a little child. 

This indolence and blindness become, however, still 
more prejudicial to the cause of education, when the child 
reaches the next stage of his development, in which the 
faculties of the second class, or those which appertain to 
our existence, as human beings, come into full play. It is 
then, that man is, as it were, emancipated from the bon- 
dage of necessity, under which he was kept, as long as his 
life expanded itself chiefly upon the outward world ; a 
new sphere of life, for him a new world, is thrown open to 
his view, and affords ample scope for his activity. This 
world is no other, than that invisible and boundless world 
of thought and feeling, the existence of which, within us, 
is an incontrovertible evidence, both of the immateriality 
and the immortality of our soul. 

Heretofore he had tried his physical strength, in the 
struggle with physical power ; now he begins to ascertain 
the measure of his mind in the conflict with mental and 
moral powers, and advances or retreats, according to the 
feeling which he has of his own superiority, or of that 
of others. He takes and maintains, or changes, his posi- 
tion as a human being, in human society; he penetrates 
beyond the outward facts of nature, searching for their 
meaning, and for the spirit that lives and manifests itself 
in them ; his own mind, as well as the images of other 
minds, reflected in it, become an object of his attention, 
and he is thus introduced into an assembly of beings, who, 
although outwardly accessible to his senses, have an ex- 
istence independently of the outward, which, by the 
abstraction of his own thoughts and feelings from the 



MENTAL AND MORAT- FREKDOM. Ill 

connexion with sensible objects, he unconsciously acknow- 
ledges. In this new world there is no absolute necessity, 
to which he must willingly or unwillingly submit ; here 
all is freedom, all choice, all volition. He cannot help 
noticing the outward fact which strikes his senses, but he 
is free to observe, or to overlook, to recognize, or to set 
aside, the cause from which it proceeds. There is no 
room for scepticism, for caprice of intellect, in the ques- 
tion, whether or not twice two make four, whether the 
part is smaller or larger than the whole ; the experiment, 
as often as it is made, returns the same answer, because 
the world, in which it is made, is one of necessity, and 
extends the rule of this necessity over our faculties, when 
concerned in its investigation, so much so, that a madman 
only can evade it, and say, as I have actually heard a 
madman address me : "I see you. Sir, but I do not know 
that you are here ; I hear you speak, but I do not know 
that you speak ; I see that your coat is black, but I do 
not know what colour it is." The whole of man's intel- 
lectual and moral existence must be given up, a step which 
is not so easily taken, before he can oppose himself, in this 
manner, to the necessity of the impressions made upon his 
faculties by the outward world. Not so with reference to 
that world of thought and feeling, which is thrown open 
to him in the society of immortal beings, endowed with 
intellectual and moral faculties, and of which, he himself, 
as one of those beings, constitutes a part. The impressions 
which are made upon him by his fellow-creatures, are sub- 
ject to his interpretation ; the truth which is addressed to 
him, he may acknowledge, or he may treat it as nonsense ; 
his own notions, his own assertions, he is free to consider, 
now, as conformable to truth, and, then, as fallacious ; the 
motive from which his friend acts, may be believed in, as 
a motive of love, or suspected as a motive of selfishness 
and deceit ; and his own motives, no less, are liable to be 
called into question, even by himself, so that the same 
thing which he would have at once decreed to be dis- 



112 LOGIC NOT A GUIDE TO TRUTH. 

honesty yesterday, he represents, nay, actually considers, 
as honesty to-day, and the action in which he would have 
gloried in the morning, has become to him in the evening 
an object of disgust, or of shame. The same is the case 
with reference to his mode of accounting for the spirit of 
those facts, which urge themselves with such necessity upon 
him in the outward world. The change of seasons may be a 
symptom of perishableness, or it may be an evidence, that 
this world has existed from eternity, and is destined to con- 
tinue in an everlasting circle of changes to eternity ; the 
.existence of the animal may have a purpose of its own, 
or it may be subject to some other purpose, as, for in- 
stance, the service of man ; — and many more hypotheses, of 
the same kind, which have actually been formed, or might 
be formed, in natural science — not to mention those causes 
in which, as in astronomy, owing to the limitation of our 
powers of inquiry, our knowledge of the facts themselves, 
rests, in a great measure, on hypothesis. 

Wherever we direct our steps, aloof from the ground 
of physical experiment, all becomes vague and uncertain. 
A thing may be so, or so, or so, or in a thousand other 
ways ; and this vagueness and uncertainty, so far from 
being conquered by the power of man's intellectual 
faculties, is, on the contrary, increasing in proportion to 
the degree of ingenuity, which is exerted to combat it. 
It is a great error to think, that the rules and formulas of 
logic can remedy this evil ; it is the error of the vulgar, 
who have never learned to think otherwise than at random, 
and who, therefore, whenever they think, are, as the German 
adage goes, " trying to Jix the pole in the blue mist ;''"' but 
those, who are practically conversant with the laws of 
thinking, who, with an acute penetration, combine a habit 
of mind strictly logical, they — and they alone are com- 
petent judges — well know, that no rule, no system of logic, 
ever can do away with the uncertainty, which atta;ches to 
man"'s knowledge in the sphere of invisible things. They 
know, that the much admired technicalities of looic are 



DELUSIVE TEXDENCY OF ITS FORMALIS.M. 113 

no more than dead waxwork imitations of our living facul- 
ties, and that by them we are no more farthered on the 
road to knowledge, than a man, who found his legs useless, 
for want of ground to walk on, would be by the acquisition 
of a pair of stilts. In these stilts, however, our schools 
and universities deal by wholesale and retail, and by the 
time a youth gets upon ground, on which he might walk, his 
legs are ruined by the drudgery which they have undergone, 
in adjusting and readjusting those useless appendages. 
If this delusion were removed, how much argument, how 
much vain labour in the field of speculation, as well as in 
practical life, could be spared ! It is a sad spectacle to 
see men, whose opinions are at variance, endeavouring to 
convince and to convert each other by strains of logic, not 
perceiving, that, as long as the one continues to call blacky 
what the other calls white, or, as sometimes happens, red, 
what the other calls square, their ergos, built upon such 
premises, must only increase the distance between their 
opinions, the more correctly they reason. 

It is no improvement upon this proceeding, after having 
driven each other, from conclusion to conclusion, back to 
their premises, and discovered their contradiction in them, 
to begin the same game over again, by attempting to prove 
those premises on the ground of others, which they now 
assume, but which are equally contradictory, as those laid 
down before ; nor does it at all tend to bring them to a 
clearer understanding, that they agree, as sometimes hap- 
pens, upon calling one and the same thing "^reew," whilst 
perhaps the one connects with the word green, the idea of 
" hitter^'' and the other that of " so//'." The vanity and 
vexatiousness of their endeavours to arrive at truth, or to 
lead others to it, has sometimes struck my mind with such 
vivacity, as to make me think, that logic is a device of the 
devil, who, after having deceived mankind in the beginning, 
plays hide and seek with them, and has invented this scare- 
crow of truth, in order that he may lead them by the nose 
at his own pleasure, and, by engaging them in a vain search, 

I 



114 METAPHYSICAL INQUIRIES UNPOPULAR. 

prevent them, for ever, from finding out their deceiver, or 
discovering the truth, from which he has caused them to 
stray. That something like this has been felt by others, is 
evident from the tendency, which is manifested, both in 
the religious, and in the not-religious world, to prohibit or 
condemn every inquiry into the things which are invisible, 
so that the latter would confine man to a knowledge of the 
facts of outward nature, misnamed natural philosophy, to 
which the former argue, that a knowledge of the letter of 
revelation, falsely termed religion, should be added. An 
appeal to the spirit, of which the sacred record testifies, is 
as unacceptable to the religious, as is, to the natural philo- 
sopher, any allusion to the living spirit of creation, of 
whom his facts testify ; and, although the one speaks of 
inspiration, and the other of the eternal laws of nature, yet 
it is evident, that these are mere dead words, with which 
they have traditionally learned to interweave their sen- 
tences, and of the meaning of which they are entirely igno- 
rant, and must remain so, as long as they persist in making 
the evidence of the senses, with reference to visible facts, 
or to the written word, the groundwork of their imaginary 
knowledge. I know that this proceeding has for its object, 
to avoid the snares into which both are conscious, that they 
are liable to fall, when pursuing those inquiries from which 
they abstain ; for although they denominate them diiffer- 
ently, and attribute them to different causes, they are both 
equally aware and equally afraid of them. So far, how- 
ever, from the enemy's purpose being defeated by their 
precaution, it is his greatest triumph to bring man thus 
to worship a brazen serpent; and never is his cunning 
more gratified, than if he be able to substitute, in the eyes 
of the blindfolded creature, the facts of nature, and the 
words of scripture, to that living God, to whom both nature 
and scripture are intended to lead us. 

Hard as these remarks may hit in many quarters, the 
truth of them will, I am convinced, be admitted by those, 
who are able to discern spiritual things. But though I 



THEIR VAGUENESS ACCOUNTED JOll. 115 

were entirely unsupported in them by the assent of others, 
yet I should feel it my duty to make them, because the 
mistakes, against which they are directed, cut at the very 
root of all improvement, by leading to systematic self- 
deception. For although we may, in matters of speculation, 
by great contrivance, arrive at a very consistent exclusion 
of all that is not visible fact, or written letter, it is not pos- 
sible for us to carry the same system through, in life and 
practice. Even if there was not, as there actually is, in us, 
an ever-working poAver, which, as it is life itself, will not 
suffer us to stop at the dead fact, or the dead letter, but 
stimulates us, although, perhaps, unknown to us, to pene- 
trate deeper — even, I say, if there was no such power ope- 
rating in us, the very circumstances of daily life absolutely 
demand that we should act — and as certain as it is, that 
we are compelled to act, so certain is it, that we cannot act 
upon mere facts, or by the mere letter, but that we must 
act in some spirit or other, which, wherever the true 
spirit is not anxiously sought for, will ahvays be a false 
spirit. Hence it is, that whenever man is betrayed by his 
weakness, into the worship of some dead idol, be it one of 
science, or one of creed, his active services are sure to be 
engaged in the cause of Satan ; for with reference to the 
true and living God alone, worship and service are insepa- 
rably united. 

This being the case, it is of the last importance, that 
we should ascertain the cause of that dangerous freedom, 
which attaches to the exercise of our moral and intellectual 
faculties, in the sphere of invisible things, and of the 
vagueness and uncertainty, in which our knowledge of 
that sphere is involved. As long as we labour under the 
mistake, adverted to on a former occasion, the mistake, I 
mean, of attributing to our faculties an innate power, and 
an independent action, the facts mentioned will remain en- 
veloped in unfathomable mystery ; but if we acknowledge 
the distinction above made, between the faculties them- 
selves, and the agents, by which they are impelled, the 

I 2 



116 DUALISM IN OUB FEELINGS AND IDEAS. 

problem is easily solved. It is evident, that, when our 
faculties are swayed by that evil spirit, which constitutes 
the corruption of our nature, the image, which our own 
being presents to us, as well as the reflection, which it 
gives of other beings, and of the whole world, must be 
very different from what they are, when our faculties are 
under the direction of the divine power of life and love ; 
it is evident, that our faculties, when attempting to distin- 
guish mental and moral objects in the darkness of our alie- 
nation from God, must receive a very different impression, 
than when they contemplate those objects in the light of 
the divine presence, and when they are themselves filled 
with the rays of that light. Now, as no man, though 
regenerated by the reception of this light as the life and 
ruling principle of his soul, is at once made so perfect, 
that the evil power does not, now and then, bias the ex- 
ercise of his faculties, so is there none to be found, so 
absolutely obdurate, that the good power does not, from 
time to time, produce a re-action against the habitual 
mode of feeling and of thinking. This accounts for that 
strange inconsistency, which attaches to the conduct of all 
men, and which, in by far the greatest number, 
produces, within the short space of a day, as many 
changes of the moral state, as there are changes in the 
weather, during the course of a whole year. It throws 
light also on the uncertainty of men''s opinions on almost 
every subject. The pertinacity with which they stick to 
them, and the intolerance with which they defend them, 
so fer from being the consequence of internal con- 
viction, are, on the contrary, marks of that uncertainty, 
which, the greater it is, the more we are anxious to dis- 
guise from ourselves and others, and which arises from 
the conflict of opposite powers in our soul. Every result 
of the exercise of our faculties, whilst under the influ- 
ence of the evil power within us, must, in the nature of 
things, be vague and uncertain : inasmuch as that power, 
being false in itself, cannot lead to truth ; as upon a foun- 



THEIK INCONSISTEKCY AND UNCERTAINTY. 117 

dation, which has no reality in itself, nothing real can be 
built ; and as he, whose element is darkness, cannot impart 
to anything the evidence of light. Whilst in this manner 
all our thinking and feeling, under that evil influence, is 
necessarily uncertain, there are causes, which tend to inva- 
lidate the certainty, naturally inherent in those results of 
our intellectual and moral life, which are produced by the 
agency of the divine power upon our faculties. The sub- 
mission of our soul to that power, involves submission to a 
second necessity, which is not physical, but spiritual, the 
necessity of the perfect and holy will of God. This ne- 
cessity is not one, under which we are naturally and in- 
evitably placed, it is one, to which we are called upon 
to submit ourselves with freedom ; inasmuch as it is per- 
fect freedom in itself. But the spirit of self in us, loves 
that false freedom, in which it rules us, better than the 
true freedom, in which God ruleth, and, therefore, con- 
stantly revolts against the idea of perfect submission to 
that spiritual necessity. Moreover, that divine power of 
life, in which freedom and necessity are thus blended to 
holiness and perfection, is, at the same time, a light, before 
which, whatever is evil, cannot stand, but turns away from 
it, and strives against it.* The consequence of this is, 
that there is always lurking in the recesses of the heart, a 
tendency to re-action against that good and perfect power, 
tempting us to call its authority, nay, its reality, into 

• " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men 
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one 
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither coineth to the light, lest his deeds 
should be reproved." This throws great light upon the necessity of an all- 
satisfactory atonement, for the perfect redemption and restoration of man, at 
least as far as the state of the creature is concerned, which, without atonement, 
could never feel in perfect union with God. The importance of this side of the 
question concerning the necessity of the atonement, is, I fear, not sufficiently 
acknowledged; or, if it were, it seems that we might dispense with some 
high doctrinal discussions, which have been ventured upon, respecting the 
necessity of the atonement on the part of God, and which, in my opinion, are 
to be ranked among the most presumptuous inquiries, into which religious con- 
ceit has betrayed weak and mortal man. 



118 EXAMINATION OF OUll FACULTIES RESUMED. 

question, and to throw off its yoke, or, if possible, the very 
thought of its existence. But, whatever tends to shake 
the authority of that power itself, must, of necessity, 
produce the same effect upon all that we have derived 
from that power, as the validity of our ideas rests en- 
tirely upon the authority of their source ; so that, in pro- 
portion to the prevalence of such a tendency to re-action, 
a constant unsettling takes place in our faculties, throw- 
ing suspicion upon that, which we received with certainty. 
The combined effect of the uncertainty, which naturally 
attaches to one part of our thoughts and feelings, and of 
the artificial vmcertainty, which we thus throw upon such 
as are naturally certain, is that vagueness, and want of 
conviction, in which most men are so enveloped, that 
they flee in distress to the mock-evidence of logic, or, in 
despair, give up every thing but facts and letter. 

After having dwelt so long upon this point, which I 
thought necessary, because upon its full elucidation, the 
whole value of our remaining knowledge of the human 
mind for practical purposes entirely depends, I shall con- 
tent myself with adding, that the same division between 
intellectual faculties, and faculties of feeling, which was 
illustrated with reference to the first class, pervades the 
one now under consideration. Thus, for instance, we 
have two faculties of fellowship as it were, with our 
equals, whom we acknowledge, in the correspondence of 
their thoughts and feelings with ours. The first of these 
faculties is one of fellow feeling, or sympathy, through 
which we communicate with others, in benevolence and 
affection, whilst the other is an intellectual faculty, 
a sort of fellow-judgment, which enables us to concur 
in the thoughts and ideas of others, as well as to call 
for their concurrence in ours. There is another pair 
of faculties, through which we explore, as it were, the 
things which are new to us, in the world of thought and 
feeling, and on the other hand convey to others, what 
is not yet a matter of common consent between them and 



DIVINE PllESKNCii IN THE SOUL. 119 

ourselves. The intellectual faculty devoted to this use is 
essentially the faculty of association, by which we connect 
a new idea, which strikes us, with one familiar to our 
mind, and thereby endeavour to possess ourselves of the 
former, or, if we communicate a new idea to others, seek 
for a point of connexion, by which we may introduce it 
into their minds. The corresponding faculty of feeling, 
on the contrary, is individualizing and intuitive. It con- 
centrates itself, as in one focus, upon the object of its in- 
vestigation or communication, and receives or represents it, 
as a matter of immediate intuition, or mental perception, 
without analysis, without comparison, without reference to 
any thing else, as it were, by one stroke. It is the pre- 
dominance of this faculty in the female sex, which renders 
woman so much more quick-sighted concerning the cha- 
racter of those with whom she comes into contact ; and 
the close connection which it has with the essence of 
poetry, is the reason why a poetic tinge attaches, almost 
invariably, to the female character. In the same manner 
do all the other faculties of the second class — with the excep- 
tion of those, which belong not so much to our inward life, 
as to the communication of it in the outward world — exist 
in pairs, the one being a faculty of feeling, and the other of 
intellect. The simultaneous and harmonious development 
of both these branches, and of the different faculties be- 
longing to each, decides upon the moral character of man, 
which, to be well balanced, requires the judgment of feel- 
ing, as well as that of the understanding. So far, but no 
farther, can mans development be carried, without con- 
sciousness of the indwelling, the nature and operations of 
that light which " lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world" — and without whom, as "not any thing was made," 
so not any thing can be understood, of all things that were 
made. It is by the operation, I repeat it, the unconscious 
and unknown operation of that light upon the faculties of 
the two first classes, that the heathen were enabled to 
investigate nature, to discover principles, and to establish 



120 MADE MANIFEST THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. 

sciences ; and it was by this, that they were enabled to 
come, from a state of brutal hostility, into a state of civi- 
lization ; to cultivate the arts of life ; to frame laws and 
institutions ; to inquire into the nature, the origin, and 
destination of the soul ; to set up a standard of virtue, 
and to ascertain the moral duties between man and man. 
But they were not purely submitted to the influence of that 
light, nor were they governed by it exclusively ; the spirit 
of rebellion influenced the development of their individual 
and national life, and the results which they obtained, were 
attributed by them, not to a divine power distinct from 
themselves, though dwelling within them, but to their own 
talents and capacities. Nevertheless, some indications of 
consciousness of a divine presence in the human heart, 
such as the ^aijuwv of Socrates, broke in upon them in 
the course of their inquiries, and prepared them for the 
conception of that great purpose of God, which was to be 
realized in fulness and glory in the person of Jesus Christ, 
viz., the divini%ation of man, through the humanization 
of the Deity. The historical existence of that fact, and, 
connected with it, that infinite mass of spiritual informa- 
tion, which the New Testament contains, was necessary, 
to lead man to a full consciousness of the source, from 
which he had already derived so much light, so much 
assistance ; and, in that consciousness, to call into full 
action the faculties of the third and highest order, viz. 
those which appertain to his existence in and with God. 
Thus, then, the superiority of christian education, over that 
which the pagan world gave, consists, not only in the 
knowledge of God, and our position to him, with which 
revelation has made us acquainted, and of which the 
heathen were entirely destitute, but in the light which 
has been thrown, by that knowledge, upon the whole con- 
stitution of human nature, and upon its different opera- 
tions. It is not merely by the addition of a branch of in- 
struction, called the knowledge of the christian religion, 
that education has been enriched, but, by the distinct 



THE FACULTIES AXD THEIR OBJECTS. 121 

information which we have received, concerning the nature 
of our task ; so that, whilst the heathen knew not, by whose 
power they learned, nor in whose name they taught, we, 
on the contrary, know, or at least, ought to know, since 
the means of knowledge are placed in our hands, in whose 
name, and by whose power alone, all education and instruc- 
tion ought to be carried on. How deeply is it, then, to be 
deplored, that still the greatest part of our education should 
be imparted in our own name, or in the name of science, 
and that the little, which is given in the name of God and 
his Christ, should be given in his name only, and not in 
his power. 

In the preceding sketch of the human faculties, I have 
drawn your attention to the main parts, rather than to the 
details, as the latter would far exceed the compass Avhich I 
am obliged to prescribe to myself, and I have merely men- 
tioned the third order of faculties, without offering any 
remark on them here, as my last lecture will be exclusively 
appropriated to that subject. Nor do 1 think it necessary, 
in the present lecture, to enumerate the different branches 
of instruction, as they will come under consideration again 
in the discussion of the two following questions, and I will 
therefore only beg leave, in conclusion, to say a few words 
regarding the connection, in which the different faculties 
stand with the visible as well as the invisible world. I 
have sho\vn that they are all destined for one purpose, for 
the attainment of which they are to be concentrated upon 
the divine light and life, and developed in subserviency to 
it ; and it remains now for us to see, what relation they bear 
to the objects of their activity, which are, erroneously 
enough, generally mistaken for the purposes of their exis- 
tence. It has been repeated, often enough to be called a 
truism, that man is a compound being, and still it may be 
very excusable to repeat it once more, for thel purpose of 
fixing a meaning upon a term, used so habitually without a 
meaning. The composition of the different beings, and 
the ground on which their communication with each other 



122 THEIR KELATIOX TO EACH OTHKK. 

rests, is enveloped in tlie deepest mystery ; it is that which 
is most carefully veiled from the profane eye of curiosity 
or selfishness, that which a matter-of-fact philosophy will 
never discover. Nevertheless, the knowledge of it, if 
attained, would be of immense interest; as well as practical 
utilitv ; for although we have the maxim on our books, 
" natiirce convenienter I'ivere,'''' Ave cannot yet form even a 
correct idea, what it is to live agreeably to nature, because 
we are ignorant of the nature of each being, and of the 
ground of its connexion Avith others, as founded in its 
nature. This knowledge I do not think it impossible, nor 
even very difficult to attain, provided we do not seek our 
principles in the facts which we observe, but lay them down 
a priori, which in all, even in the most experimental 
sciences, is the only way to arrive at real results ; and which 
has been done in all ages by those, who took the lead in any 
branch of knowledge, although the ignorant multitude, 
who can see nothing but facts, always attributed to chance, 
or to the effect of repeated experiments, those great disco- 
veries, on which all that is valuable in human science rests, 
and which are the work, not of human sagacity, but of a 
sort of inspiration. INIuch as it may excite the derision of 
experimental philosophers, or the bigotry of mere creed 
believers, I repeat it again, as a truth Avhich, it is important, 
should be known, as one involved in the revelation which 
we have of God through Christ, that in no science Avhatever 
we can know anything of the nature of things, — beyond 
their outward appearance, and their external phenomena — 
unless w-e proceed upon principles received, as a matter of 
faith, a priori, and laid down with the most absolute 
reliance on their reality. If you ask, where those prin- 
ciples are to be found, the answer is, within your own minds, 
at the source of all knowledge, which dwells in you, and 
will enlighten you, if you will but turn to it in faith. From 
the same source, from which all knowledge on religious 
subjects is derived, ought we likewise to receive the prin- 



NOT TO BE UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT FAITH. 123 

ciples of all other knowledge ;* but in the latter, as in the 
former case, it requires faith, without which there is 

* I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of quoting the following verses, from 
the eighth chapter of Proverbs, which is so beautiful an illustration of the be- 
ginning of St. John's Gospel : " / tvisdom dwell with prudence, and Jind out 

" knowledge of witty inventions WTien he prepared the heavens, I was 

" there : when he set a compass upon the face of the depth : when he established 
" the clouds above : when he strengthened the fountains of the deep : when 
" he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his command- 
" ment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth : Then I was by 
" him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing 
" always before him : rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, and my 
" delights were with the sons of men. Now, therefore, hearken unto me, O 
"ye children !" Can there be a plainer declaration of the sublime truth, that 
the universal and everla-sting spirit of God, who knoweth the heavens and the 
compass of the depth, the clouds above and the fountains of the deep, the sea 
and the foundations of the earth, finds his delight in communicating to the 
sons of men his wisdom and knowledge ; and that it is by his light only, that 
men are enabled to find out knowledge of witty inventions ? But the mean- 
ness of our feelings, and the narrowness of our minds, wiU not permit us to 
take that enlarged view of revelation, which would cause as to see God in all 
things, although we keep it on record, as a dead creed, that he is " all and in 
all." Of the most express declarations, such as those in the above passage, 
we get rid, by declaring them " figures of speech." Let it be remembered, 
however, that although men may deprive themselves and others of the benefit 
of God's revelation, by restricting its import, this can only affect them, but 
not the meaning of a divine declaration, which remains unalterable for ever. 
Let it be remembered also, that he who takes the lead in such presumptuous li- 
mitations of the divine truth, incurs a hea%7 responsibility. " Woe unto the 
world because of offences ;" and woe unto the religious world, if the offence come 
by them. Woe unto those who, by precluding science from the fountain of reli- 
gion, have driven the scientific world away from religion, and prevented science 
from becoming conformable to the wisdom of God. The error, however, lies not 
with the religious world only ; (although it is in them more unpardonable, because 
they ought to have better knowledge ;) the arrogance of human reason, and 
the conceit of an extensive knowledge of facts, of which the spirit is unknown, 
has as great a share in the unfortunate separation, nay division, which at pre- 
sent obtains bet\veen religion and science, as the narrowmindedness of the 
religious world. For the benefit of those whom this paltry collection of frag- 
ments from the life of the universe— for such are all our natural sciences in 
their present condition — puffs up so beyond measure, I will extract here (as 
they might not, perhaps, meet with it elsewhere) part of that sublime passage 
in the book of Job, in which God asks, " ^^Tio is this that darkeneth counsel 
" by words without knowledge ? Gird up now thy loins like a man, for / 
" win demand of thee, and answer thou me ! Where wast thou when I laid 



124 FAITH THE EXPOSITOR OF FACTS. 

absolute darkness, where those, that have faith, perceive the 
clearest light. The words of wisdom " are all plain to him 
that understandeth, and right to them that find know- 
ledge."" So, in particular reference to the subject of our 
present inquiry, the most extensive observations which man 
is enabled to make within the limited sphere of his exis- 
tence, cannot lead him to a clear insight into the nature of 
different beings, and of their relation to, and communica- 

' the foundations of the earth ? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who 
" hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest ? or, who hath stretched the 
" line upon it ? Whereupoji are the foundations thereof fastened ? or who 
" laid the cornerstone thereof ; when the morninff stars sang together, and all 
" the sons of God shouted for joy ? Or, who shut up the sea with doors, 
" when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb ? When I made 
" the clouds the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, 
" and brake up my decreed place, and set bars and doors, saying, Hitherto 
*' shall thou come, but no further ! and here shall thy proud waves be 
" stayed / . . . . Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea ; or hast thou 
" walked in the search of the depth ? Have the gates of death been opened 
" imto thee ? or hast thou seen the door of the shadow of death ? Hast thou 
*' perceived the breadth of the earth ? Declare if thou knowest it all ! 
" Where is the way where light dwelleth 9 and as for darkness, where is the 
^^ place thereof, that thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou 
*' shouldest know the paths to the house thereof ? Knowest thou it because 
*' thou wast then born ? or because the number of thy days is great 9 Hast 
" thou entered into the treasures of the snow ? or hast thou seen the treasures 
" of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the 
*' day of battle and war ? By what way is the light parted, which scattereth 
" the east wind upon the earth ? What hath divided a watercourse for the 
" overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder to cause it to 
"rain on the earth, where no man is, on the wilderness where there is no 
" man ; to satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the 
*' tender herb to spring forth ? Hath the rain a father, or who hath begot- 
" ten the drops of dew ? Out of whose womb came the ice ? and the 
" hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it ? The waters are hid as with a 
" stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Canst thou bind the sweet in- 
^^fluences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst thou bring forth 
" Mazzaroth in his season ? or canst thon, guide Arcturus with his sons 9 
" Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ? canst thou set the dominion thereof 
*' in the earth ? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of 
*' waters may cover thee ? Canst thou send lightnings that they may go, and 
*' say unto thee. Here we are ? Who hath put vitisdom in the ix- 

" WARD PARTS? OR WHO HATH GIVEN UNDERSTANDING TO THE 

*' HEART ?" Answer this, if you can, ye Lawrences ! ye men of steam and 
gas, ye dissectors and skull casters ! 



CORRESPONDING ELEMENTS OF THINGS. 125 

tion with, each other ; unless he be guided in his search by 
the principle, which no fact and no experiment can teach 
him, the principle, that every being is composed of a certain 
number of different elements, the nature of which deter- 
mines the sorts of beings with whom he is capable of hold- 
ing communication, and their number, the extent to which 
he is capable of intercourse with creation. On this simple 
principle, the chymical affinity of unorganic bodies rests, 
as well as the attraction and repulsion wliich takes place in 
the moral world. One is the image of the other, but they 
are both effects of the same universal law. Suppose, for 
illustration's sake, any being, or thing, to be composed of 
four elements. A, B, C, and T> ; this being, or thing, will 
consequently be capable of intercourse with the world, in 
four different directions, that is to say, with all the beings, 
in whom any one of those four elements exists, and with 
every being in as many ways, as there are corresponding 
elements in both ; so that if there be a being, A E F, 
another, B G N P, another, C D F M, another, 
A B C N O P, it is evident that the being, A B C D, 
can hold intercourse with the being A E F, in one direc- 
tion, through A, 

with B G N P, in one direction, through B, 
with C D F M, in two directions, through C and D, 
with A B C N OP, in three directions, through A, 
B, and C ; and, further, that intercourse can take place 
between A E F, and A B C N O P, through the 
element A ; between A E F, and C D F M, through 
the element F ; between B G N P, and A B C N O P, 
through the elements B N, and P ; between C D F M, 
and A B C N O P, through the element C. Moreover, 
although A B C D, be capable of intercourse, both with 
A E F, and with C D F M, yet it is entirely precluded 
from joining in the intercourse which the two latter can 
hold, through the element F, which does not enter into the 
composition of the being A B C D. The variety of 
directions, in which one being can communicate with 



•126 HOW TO BE DISCOVERED. 

another, is, however, not to be confomided with the inten- 
sity of their communication, which determines the intimacy 
of their relation, and which depends on the degree of power 
in which they axe both possessed of the same element. 
Thus, suppose A B C D to be possessed of the element 
B, in the power of 6, whilst the same element exists in the 
being B G N P, only in the power of 4, and in A B C 
N O P, in the power of 3, it is plain that the intensity of 
the intercourse between A B C D, and B G N P, 
through the element of B, can only be 4 ; between A B 
CD, and A B C N O P, 3 ; and 3, likewise, between 
A B G N O P, and B G N P ; so that A B ON 
O P, will be satisfied, or, as the chymist calls it, saturated, 
in both cases ; that B G N P, will be satisfied in its 
intercourse with A B C D, but not with A B C N O 
P ; and that A B C D, will not be able to satisfy itself 
in its intercourse with either of the two, but only with such 
beings as possess the element B, in the same degree of 
power as A B C D itself. 

What those elements are, of which all beings are com- 
posed, I do not pretend to say ; all I wish is, to call your 
attention to the fact, that there are certain elements or bases 
of all existence ; properties, according to the usual mode of 
expression, but, in reality, primitive substances, which never 
exist but in combination with each other, and which, by the 
different combinations and the different degrees of power in 
which they exist, produce that endless variety of beings 
which, both within and beyond the sphere of our knowledge, 
rejoice and declare the glory of God. If our minds were 
freed from all those classifications, founded upon outward 
symptoms, and all the other false notions, with which the 
present systems have filled our heads, and darkened our 
minds, by words without knowledge ; if we could see crea- 
tion with the eye of that ever-living Spirit, who combines 
those elements in the different individuals, and, by his 
power, holds them together as long as he pleases; who sets 
them into action according to his own pleasure, or abandons 



THEIR SIMPLICITY. 127 

them for a time to the rule of the creature ; then, indeed, 
should we behold a spectacle, very different from those 
confused images, which our systems of natural and moral 
philosophy present. We should, then, clearly apprehend 
that important, but much slighted distinction between 
matter and spirit, between material and spiritual elements. 
We should then cease to attribute reason to the brute, or 
to explain the phenomena of immortal spirit by the 
texture of nervous fibres. And, as we should clearly 
discern those things, which are to be discerned, but 
which we now confound, so do I most firmly believe, 
that many things which we now distinguish, and con- 
sider as essentially different, would be found to rest 
ultimately on the same basis. For, although I have no 
facts to support me, except it were by analogy, yet I cannot 
withhold the statement of my conviction, that if we could 
penetrate so far into nature, both visible and invisible, as 
to discern the elements of which things are composed, we 
should find them but a very few in number ; inasmuch as 
many properties which are now, or, in the course of farther 
investigation, still may be, considered as elementary, are 
nothing but derivatives from the real elements of all things, 
but appear to us as elements, because we see them fre- 
quently occurring, and because we have never penetrated 
into their composition. This may, perhaps, be more fully 
illustrated, by a reference to the composition of number, 
concerning which I happen to have pursued these in- 
quiries farther into the details. All the numbers, which 
do not admit of being divided ^nthout fractions, or which 
have not other numbers for their factors, are, in arith- 
metic, comprehended under the appellation, prime num- 
bers — such as 1, 2, 3, 5, '], 11, 13, and so on. They are 
set apart as a sort of outlaws, so much so, that it is 
considered as a questionable point, whether they follow 
any rule, or law, at all. The other numbers, on the con- 
trary, are all taken together, in one lot, as they succeed 
each other when counted by units, on the decimal system. 



128 EXEMPLIFIED IX THE NATURE OF NUMBER. 

This view of tliem having once become habitual to our 
minds, we employ them for our calculations, reduce them 
to their respective proportions, multiply and divide, add 
and subtract them, as the occasion may require ; and if we 
make any observations on them, it is, because thev happen 
to strike our eyes by frequent occurrence, and because we 
find the process of calculating facilitated by some of the 
rules discovered. But, at the same time, we remain in 
perfect ignorance respecting the natiu*e and chai'acter of 
different numbers, and the elements from which thev are 
derived ; as is evident, from the question being enter- 
tained, even among mathematicians, whether or not the 
numbers called prime numbers, are subject to any law. 
The fact is, however, that there are two classes of num- 
bers, organic ones, formed by multiplication, and unorganic 
ones, formed by addition and subtraction from the former ; 
to which must be added, as forming a third and subor- 
dinate class, mixed numbers, resulting from the multiplica- 
tion of oro-anic with unoro-anic ones. These three classes 
are, of course, subdivided into what might be called 
genera, and species, according to the elements of which 
they are composed, whether all similar or dissimilar, and, in 
the latter case, whether combined in equal, or unequal 
proportions, and in lower or liigher degrees of power. The 
variety displayed in them, the indefinite extent of their 
progress, and their almost countless proportions and rela- 
tions, when compared with the simple elements from which 
they ai'e derived, are truly astonishing. Thus, for instance, 
the combination of two different elements, in equal propor- 
tion, and in the power of 5, produces 32 compound ele- 
ments, or as they Avould commonly be termed, factors, and 
the total amount of different formations of the number 
produced by the two elements, in the proportion and power 
mentioned, is near to twenty-five thousand. The same 
multiplicity is to be met with iu every direction, and 
nothing but the variety and boundlessness of creation itself, 
can, in any way, be compared to the immensity of the field. 



ELEMENTS OF ALL NUMBER. 1-9 

which is thrown open before the mind. Bat, although it 
is the very nature of number, that its extent can never 
be compassed, yet the elements from Avhich all number is 
derived, and the laws, which it follows, are extremely sim- 
ple. The numbers 2,3, and 5, with + 1 and — 1, is all that 
is required to investigate the nature, and calculate the pro- 
portions and relations of any number, whether organic or 
unorganic. The latter class comprehends all those num- 
bers, which are called prime numbers, except the above 
elements, and which, when viewed in their connexion with 
the system of numbers, to which they belong, assume a 
perfectly different aspect. The question, whether they 
follow any law or not t appears, then, as ridiculous as the 
question, whether there is a law in the division by two ; 
or whether it is by chance that 16, divided by 2, makes 8 .-' 
Even at first sight, a varietv of interestino; facts strike the 
mind, which, as they are followed up by investigation, lead 
to highly interesting results. Incomplete as my observa- 
tions have hitherto been, from the want of leisure to pursue 
the subject farther, they are sufficient to place it beyond all 
manner of doubt, that the unorganic numbers, of which 
the prime numbers form the most essential part, are a com- 
plete and separate system of numbers, governed by laws 
peculiar to itself, and relate to the organic numbers in a 
similar manner as the unorganic or mineral kingdom in 
nature, is to the vegetable kingdom. But, I must not in- 
dulge myself in the farther pursuit of a topic, which, 
although a favourite one with myself, may not be so with 
others, — and I shall merely recall your attention to the 
purpose for which 1 introduced it, viz., to account, by the 
way of analogy, for the conviction which I expressed, that 
the whole universe of creation, with all the variety of 
beings contained in it, rests, ultimately, upon a few simple 
elements. The discovery of them, would, of course, be an 
essential step onwards in knowledge, and have a very 
important influence upon all our sciences ; but, in none, 
perhaps, would it be of such practical value, as in education, 

K 



130 ANALYSIS OF HUMAN NATURE. 

since a clear view of the correspondence of certain facul- 
ties with certain objects, would enable us, in a much 
greater degree than is now possible, to render our instruc- 
tion and discipline conformable to the wants of each indi- 
vidual. In the mean time, we must content ourselves to 
be directed by such observations, as the measure of our in- 
sight into human nature will permit us to make, and if we 
keep first principles steadily in view, we shall daily in- 
crease in clearness, as well as in extent of knowledge. 

It is interesting to see, how in the human body all the 
elements of earthly existence seem to be combined to- 
gether ; so, at least, we may conclude, from the fact, that 
in the economy of its organization, every inferior existence 
with its distinguishing character has found a place, accord- 
ing to the general law of nature, by which, at every higher 
step, the leading features of every lower step are repeated. 
Thus, the mechanic structure of unorganic bodies, and the 
coherence of their parts, in different directions, is repeated 
in the vegetable, by the texture of its fibres, whilst the 
principle of expansion, which is the principle of vegetable 
life, gives birth to a system of circulation ; both these are 
again repeated in the animal, in which there is — in addition 
to flesh and bones, which respond to the fibrous structure 
of the plant, and the arterial and venous systems, which 
respond to the circulation of the sap in the former — the 
nervous system as a vehicle of communication, by which 
partial sensations are referred to a central point, and 
through it to the whole being, and impulses are conveyed 
from that central point to any part. All this is repeated 
in man, with the addition of such organs, as render his 
body the fit abode, and willing instrument, of an immortal 
spirit, enabling it to render the material world, with which 
he is linked through those organs, subservient to a spiritual 
purpose, for which he is endowed with a capability of re- 
coffnizins: and uniting; himself with that imiversal life and 
light, through Avhich the Avhole world subsists. Thus, 
whilst his hand and foot respond to the earth, his organs 



ITS CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE UNIVERSE. 131 

of taste and smell to fluid substances, his ear to the elas- 
ticity of the air, and his eye to the ray of light, his inner 
organs respond to the laws of time, and of space, of tone, 
and number, of colour and shapes ; through his senses he 
is capable of holding intercourse with the facts of nature ; 
through the immaterial organs of his soul, he is enabled to 
hold communion with the spirit, which breathes in those 
facts, and to unravel the laws of them ; and the inner 
organs of his brain, forming, as it were, the bridge between 
the world of spirit, and the world of sense, render him 
capable of the perception of those same laws as outwardly 
manifested, and, as it were, incarnate in the sensible world. 
Thus, as an earthly being, composed of earthly elements, 
he is linked with the earth ; by the different systems of his 
earthly organization, he is linked with the different parts 
of earthly creation ; by his spiritual organization he is 
capable of intercourse with created spirits — through the 
principle of sin in himself, he is accessible to intercourse 
with fallen spirits, and a life is imparted to him, by wliich 
he may hold communion with the Father of spirits, and 
with his holy angels. 

Such is man, indeed and in truth, a compound being ; 
a being full of contradiction and opposition, as he now is ; 
but a being, also, destined for perfect peace and harmony. 
How important, then, is the task of him, who undertakes 
to direct the successive unfolding of all the energies and 
faculties, of which this being is composed ! And how great 
is his responsibility ! And yet this task is, generally, of all 
the duties of life the most neglected, and by those, who 
undertake it, as a matter of trade, it is treated as the easiest 
of all trades I 



K 2 



132 



LECTURE V. 



WHAT ARE THE CHIEF OBSTACLES TO A MORE GENERAL 
EDUCATION OF THE POOR, AND WHAT ARE THE LEAD- 
ING ERRORS COMMITTED IN THIS GREATEST OF ALL 
CHARITIES AS FAR AS IT EXTENDS AT PRESENT ? 



After having, in my four preceding lectures, treated of 
the general principles, on which the duty of imparting 
education to our children rests, and by which the right 
mode of fulfilling that duty is determined, I shall now 
proceed, as far as time will permit, to make the applica- 
tion of what has been said, to the practical details of 
different departments of education; and in doing so, I shall 
take an opportunity of reviewing the means at present 
adopted for the education of the people in this country. 

In direct answer to the question, which will occupy our 
attention in this lecture, I would say, that there are two 
chief obstacles to a more general education of the poor ; the 
first, the depraved condition of the parents in the lower 
classes of society, and the second, the ignorance and nar- 
rowanindedness, which preside over our poor schools, both 
in teachers and managers. Which of the two is the more 
difficult to be conquered, I do not pretend to know ; I 



OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT. 133 

shall content myself with stating the facts as they are, not as 
they appear in public meetings, at public examinations, and 
in printed reports and prospectuses, but as they strike the 
mind of a person, unbiassed by the erroneous maxims of 
the present systems, when entering the school-rooms, and 
conversing with the children ; or when observing the chil- 
dren in the streets after school-hours. 

As regards the first obstacle I have mentioned, the 
depraved condition of the parents, it requires no proof, 
for it is in the mouths of all, that the lower orders of 
society are merged in a state of immorality, hardly to 
be imagined by those, who have not had an opportunity 
of making their own observations ; and to be accounted 
for, only by the want of intelligence, and the absence 
of religious feeling, on one hand, and the high point of 
civilization, which the country at large has attained, on 
the other. Improvement is not to be expected, as long 
as the present views of society remain the leading princi- 
ples of our individual and national existence ; for, if it 
must be admitted, that the poor are deeply depraved, it 
cannot be denied, that the more refined, but no less deep 
corruption of those, who appear and think themselves their 
betters, is one of the chief causes of the existence of the 
evil, as well as of its continuance. The man, who does 
not act from selfish motives, and for selfish ends, is as rare 
among the wealthy, as among the poor — so much so, that 
the bare possibility of a purely disinterested conduct, is 
generally denied. The selfish ends, which the wealthy 
man can attain in society, are many ; but a few of them 
only are accessible to the poor ; and even where he can 
attain the same enjoyment as the rich man, the quahty 
of the object, with which the poor must put up, is far 
inferior, and of course, renders his enjoyment grosser. 

It is not sufiiciently considered by those, who descant 
upon the corruption and immorality of the lower orders, 
that their more pri\dleged neighbours gratify essentially 
the same lusts and appetites, and indulge the same selfish 



134 IMMORAtlTY OF THE LOWEE OUDEKS. 

feelings, as the former, with this diiference only, that they 
have the means of committing theit sins in a more sys- 
tematic and refined manner, and of concealing them better 
from the public view. What difference is there between 
a fashionable dinner-party, who, after having crammed 
themselves with the fat of the earth, imported for them 
from all the winds of the compass, sit till after liiidnight, 
drawing bottle after bottle, and varying the sort, to sti- 
mulate their palates ; whilst, at no more, perhaps, than 
fifty yards distance, a poor man is dying away under ex- 
haustion and want, to whom one dish from their table, or 
one glass of the wine, which they spill in revelling, might 
restore health and strength ; what difference, I ask, is there 
between a party of these fine gentlemen, and a party of 
drunken labourers, stumbling from public house to public 
house, to get " one more glass ?" Do you think, that, 
if the latter were offered the means of getting drunk in a 
gentlemanly manner, they Would refuse them ? Or what 
difference is there, between my lady, who spends three or 
four hours a day at her toilette, setting out her person to 
the best advantage, in order to enchant her gallant, or to 
lay at her feet scores of enraptured admirers, and the 
strange woman, who decks herself with her glittering 
trinkets, to try whom she may ensnare? They both feel 
the same, wish the same, and do the same, except that the 
former does it in a more lady-like way, than the latter can 
afford, and perhaps, that the former, not to offend against 
notions, sanctioned by "vulgar prejudices," has, as a matter 
of form, solemnly disposed of her hand at the altar, whilst 
the latter has always professedly been, what she is. 

But I should be sorry, if any who know themselves to 
be free from such gross indulgence of their sensual appe- 
tites, should, on that account, consider themselves less con- 
cerned in the guilt, which the whole nation has incurred, 
the guilt of depraving, as well as oppressing, the poor. 
The immense Aveight of the national debt, is not a heavier 
draw back upon the earnings, than that moral debt of the 



CAUSED BY THAT OF THE HIGHEll CLASSES. 135 

nation, is upon the morality of each individual ; and in the 
latter case as in the former, the poor are the greater 
sufferers. As long as a man is engaged in the pursuit of 
any of those selfish ends, on which the framework of 
society is founded, such as the thirst of popularity, the 
wish for preferment and worldly honour, and every other 
species of ambition ; or the acquirement of wealth, the in- 
crease of revenue, a more splendid mode of living, or, per- 
haps, only a more genteel style of housekeeping, as long 
as to any of these things a man's heart is subservient, he 
has his share of guilt in the national depravation. Is the 
corruption of the lower orders any more than a conse- 
quence of the general tendency, every one to get as much, 
and to live as well, as he can ; manifested in them accord- 
ing to the limitation of their means, and the grossness of 
their education, in the meanest as well as in the most brutal 
manner.'* The vice is not in the thing wliich we seek, but 
in our seeking after the tilings of the world, and the things 
of the flesh. The poor man can only aspire to gain and 
sensual enjoyment ; the wealthy has a wider field thrown 
open to him ; but the spirit, in which both feel and act, is 
the same — the wealthy may call the objects of his exertions 
more elevated, but this only proves, that he is the greater 
hypocrite. It is in the nature of things, that those in a 
lower station shoidd look up to those who fill a higher 
place, at least in the estimation of men, and, therefore, if 
the tonegivers of society set up self-gratification as the 
end and object of life, it is but natural that their humbler 
neighbours should follow their word and example, in such 
measure and manner, as is possible in their circumstances. 
It is on this ground, that I despair of seeing any improve- 
ment take place in the character of the lower classes, as 
long as the principles of the present system are upheld ; 
unless, indeed, a more adequate provision were made for 
the education of their children. 

Such a provision would, in the present state of things, 
require the parents to be as much as possible excluded 



136 



WANDERIMO LIFE OF OUR POOR. 



from co-operation in the education of their children ; and 
in general the latter to be placed altogether out of the 
reach of those unfavourable and demoralizing circum- 
stances, by which they are now surrounded. Thus, for 
instance, one of the great impediments to a better organi- 
zation of charity schools, is the constant change of resi- 
dence of the parents, by which every such school is made 
subject to a great fluctuation, and the child, by the inter- 
ruptions of his instruction, and the changes of masters and 
schoolfellows, perpetually thrown back and discouraged. 
A society has been formed for the purpose of civilizing 
the gipsies, by inducing them to give up their Pandering 
habits, and to attach themselves to fixed abodes. But 
well as I wish to that society, I should think the last state 
of the gipsies far worse than the first, if they were to be 
reduced to the condition of most of our poor, who cannot 
be said to have as much of a home, as a gipsy family. 
The gipsy, it is true, never takes any but a temporary 
abode ; but is the residence of our poor in their miserable 
tenements less temporary .'' And is not the forest in which 
the former settles for a time, with the wide heavens for his 
roof, a dwelling place far preferable, as regards comfort, 
health and morality, to those dens, inclosed by brick 
walls, and surrounded by a smoky, filthy atmosphere, in 
which the latter settle for no longer period ? Besides, 
when the gipsy changes his place of encampment, his 
cart, and all he has, goes with him ; he has in fact 
a home, but a home which travels about with him ; 
there is no landlord to distress him for rent, nor a parish 
officer to strip him of liis bed, and his children''s clothing, 
for church-rates, for water-rates, for watching, and light- 
ing ; he is not obliged to make his escape in the night, 
leaving behind him the few scanty articles of furniture 
which he possesses, or the tools with which he works ; he 
may leave, whenever he pleases, without notice, and with- 
out obstruction, in open daylight, and take along with him 
all that he ever had an ambition to call his. Not so our 



BAD INFLUENCES UPON THEIR CHILDEEN. 137 

poor. The miserable accommodation which they have, in 
what we call fixed abodes — most improperly so, because, 
although the houses remain always on the same spot, their 
inhabitants are vagrants — render their small property 
liable to the constant attacks of landlords and bailiffs, tax- 
gatherers, and parish collectors, and the little they can 
exempt from this despotism, is in constant circulation be- 
tween themselves and the pawnbrokers ; so that if we 
restrict the ideas of a home, or of possession to the smallest 
extent possible, viz. to the coat which a man has on his 
back, our poor cannot be said to be owners or inhabitants 
even of that, otherwise than in a most temporary way. 
What, then, must we expect to be the notions, feelings, 
and habits of children growing up under such circum- 
stances ! 

Again : if we consider, what is in other respects the in- 
fluence exercised over children out of school-hours, it is 
evident that the work of their education can make no great 
progress, as long as they remain exposed to it. If the 
parents are industrious, their time and attention is so en- 
tirely swallowed up by the pursuits of business, that they 
must abandon their children to such company as they meet 
with in the streets ; and what that is, we all know. If, on 
the contrary, the parents are idle and vicious, the case is 
still worse. Hence, even if our school instruction were all 
that can be desired, the task would almost seem to be a 
hopeless one ; and how much less, then, is success to be 
anticipated, when the school instruction itself is all that is 
■ undesirable ! Take any of the commandments, which are 
inculcated in the school : — " Thou shalt not swear ; thou 
shalt not steal ; thou shalt not covet ; thou shalt not be 
angry with thy brother ; thou shalt not return evil for 
evil ;"" is it to be expected, that the spelling over those 
words, and the repeating of them by rote in one hour of 
the day, will have the effect of preventing the child from 
doing any of those things, whilst all the rest of the day 
he is directly tempted to do them, not by a dead letter. 



138 CHARITY BOAEDIXG SCHOOLS PR01M3SED. 

but by life ; not by words, but by facts, by the examples 
of his felloMs, perhaps of his parents, by all the influences 
that work upon him, in-doors, and out of doors ? If the 
evil nature in the child is constantly called into action, 
and, properly, cultivated, what can it avjiil against this, 
that Avords are inculcated in the name of God, but even 
those, without faith in his indwelling power ? 

I think, I need not say more, to convince those who are 
truly earnest in their wish for the national improvement of 
education, that nothing effectual can be done, as long as the 
children are left at the mercy of the corrupt morals of their 
pai'ents, and of their miserable circumstances. The only 
remedy, then, is the establishment of charity boarding- 
schools, sufficiently large and numerous to insure educa- 
tion, from the ao-e of one or two to the age of fourteen 
years, to all those children, Avhose parents have not the 
will or the means to co-operate in an efficient manner with 
the teachers of day-schools, for the proper teaching of 
their offspring. The project of such establishments may 
at first sight strike you as something visionary and Uto- 
pian ; the expense, which they would involve, seems, with- 
out further consideration, to put a complete negative upon 
the hope of ever realizing such a plan. 

I confess that I do not, myself, think it possible to raise 
a fund sufficient, even for the establishment of one such 
institution, iyidepejidcnf of the bias of those false and cor- 
rupt principles, on which education is generally conducted. 
But this is owing to that monied pride, which presides over 
all the charitable institutions of this country ; a man who 
gives a sovereign annually towards their support, claiming 
on that ffround a ria;ht to interfere in their management, 
nay, and considering his guinea a sufficient evidence, that 
he is a competent judge of the matter. As long as that 
principle prevails, that, in proportion as a man is possessed 
of the mammon of this Avorld, in that proportion his voice 
is influential, and his will decisive, in the regulation of 
public affairs, so long, I confess it, I do not think it pos- 



THE EXPENSE WOULD REPAY ITSELF. 139 

sible to raise even one institution of the kind I have de- 
scribed ; but, let it be remembered, it is not from want 
of means, but from want of an humble, world-forgettingj 
and God-seeking spirit. The means are ample enough ; 
even the actual expenses of society would, if properly ad- 
ministered, be sufficient, without any additional sacrifice, 
to carry the project into effect. I have, in a former lec- 
ture, adverted to the different heads of public expenditure, 
wliich might, with advantage, be converted to the pur- 
poses of education ; if to this were added, the whole amount 
of what is taken out of the pockets of society, by tliieves, 
pickpockets, and house-breakers, by fraudxdent dealers, 
and others, whose existence is a mere tax upon the com- 
monwealth, what an enormous sum would this make ! It 
would be interesting to ascertain its amount, in order to 
see, Avhat expense society incurs, willingly, or unwil- 
lingly, for the maintenance of a bad system, and what 
resources, therefore, might be relied on, if society were 
inclined to change the system. It is true, that not all this 
could be saved in the first year, but an extra expense 
would cover itself soon enough. What should we say, if 
a man had a pair of vicious horses, kicking his carriage to 
pieces everv day, so as to cause a constant expense for the 
mending of the carriage and harness, and occasionally for 
the medicating of the horses themselves ; should not we 
advise him to get a pair of young horses properly trained, 
and to employ the vicious horses in some way, in which 
they coidd not do any, or at least not so much mischief ; 
considering that the expense for the training of the young 
horses would soon be re-imbursed, by the saving of so 
much carriao-e mendino;? And if the man answered that 
he was already at great expense for his horses, and that 
he did not intend going to any greater expense for horses, 
that his young horses -svill grow up without training, and 
that if they turn out vicious, he shall always have a whip 
to give them a cut ; should we not tliink that man a fool ? 
But supposing society to have wisdom enough for in- 



140 MOHAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE PLAN. 

curring the expense of training the rising generation, or 
supposing that some individuals had public spirit enough 
to try the experiment, at least, as far as their means would 
permit : the practicability of the plan, for the nation at 
large, would yet be subject to a difficulty, which I myself 
must admit to be much greater, than even the opponents 
of the plan would probably be aware of. The question, 
namely, arises; where are we to find teachers for such 
establishments, who will not undertake the office for hire's 
sake, but from a real interest in the cause itself, in a truly 
benevolent, and truly Christian spirit ? and at the same 
time, men sufficiently enlightened, respecting the constitu- 
tion of human nature, and the treatment which it requires, 
so that their zeal may not be without knowledge ? And to 
this I would add another question : where shall we find 
managers , and committees, entertaining sufficiently mode- 
rate notions of their directorial capacities, and of their 
corporate wisdom, men who would shew a noble confidence 
in the zeal, the conscience, the experience, and intelligence 
of an humble schoolmaster, who rather than check him by 
outward rules and precepts, would in brotherly love en- 
courage him to do the best in his power ? 

There is reason, indeed, to ask these questions, if we 
consider the general ignorance, nay, the positive blindness 
which prevails on the subject of education. Every one 
agrees, that shoe-making is a trade which must be learned, 
and that a man who has not had much to do with horses, 
so far from being able to break in a young horse, will 
probably spoil one already broken in : every one claims 
for himself a degree of superiority of judgment in those 
matters, with which he is daily conversant, and allows the 
same to others — except on the business of education, on 
which every man thinks himself sufficiently well informed, 
and competent to judge for himself, and to which, as a 
sort of universal quackery, every man turns his hand, who 
has failed in every other trade. This abuse Avould be 
contemptible only, if it was confined to quacks, but when 



PUBLIC IGNORANCE ON EDUCATION. 141 

it is countenanced by respectable bodies of men, it becomes 
intolerable. Not to mention those parties, of whom nothing 
but what is dark and ignorant, is ever expected, I have 
been present lately at the public meeting of the British 
and Foreign School Society, which, professedly, is the 
most liberal, and the most enlightened of all the public 
bodies, engaged in promoting the cause of education — arid 
what did I hear during the course of several hours in a 
meeting, expressly called for that specific object ? What 
did the report begin and end with ? What all May re- 
ports begin and end with : self-congratulation on the great 
success of the institution. What M'as the main import of 
the speeches ? What all May speeches are pregnant with : 
strains of mutual flattery, and clever sentences neatly 
twisted to a point, for the rousing of a clap in the hall. 
There was but one man, who knew what he spoke about, 
and spoke about what he knew, and he was the only one, 
too, who shook his venerable grey locks with disapproba- 
tion and disgust, when the balmy oil of flattest flattery 
was poured out upon him. Concerning the object itself, 
for which professedly the meeting was assembled, but little 
was said, and of that little, there was but little to the pur- 
pose. Among the great truths which were there revealed 
with so much bombast, and received with so much ap- 
plause, one which I noted down among others, as a curio- 
sity, was, that " attention is the first principle of civili- 
zation.'''' For the credit of the man who said it, I will 
suppose, that he really meant nothing when he said it, 
' except that he meant to make a INIay speech about civiliza- 
tion, for which purpose he thought one sentence as good 
as another ; and that which came first into his mouth, the 
best of all. For how is it otherwise to be accounted for, that 
" attention," which is neither a power, nor a life, nor a 
truth, but a mere habit, should be honoured with the name 
*• principle," — and that it should be called " the first prin- 
ciple of human civilization," by a man,'who must be presumed 
to know, that there is a living principle, the source of life 



142 PROVED BY FACTS. 

everlasting, which is, or at least ought to be, the only princi- 
ple of civilization among Christians? Another speaker excited 
the attention and curiosity of the meeting not a little by 
entering into an account of the progress, which the cause 
of education had made among the savages of that part of 
the world, which he had visited as a Christian missionary. 
But how great was my astonishment, when at the close of 
his tale it turned out, that the important evidence he had, 
of the spread of civilization in that quarter, was that he 
found in a cottage in the midst of the desert, the spelling, 
pence, and other lesson tables of the Infant School Soci- 
ety, hanging round the walls !! Are these the signs, by 
which we are to discern the progress of Christ's kingdom 
in the hearts of little children ? Is all distinction lost 
among us, between the word, which we print on paper, 
and the everlasting Word, the life-giver of all ? This 
conclusion, indeed, one is sometimes tempted to come to, 
when hearing declarations such as these, or another made at 
the same meeting, and, if I recollect right, in the report 
itself. It was said in defence of the " machinery" of the 
British System — that mechanical education was not the 
object in view, but that " the machitiery of the system was 
the great means of producing moral and spiritual re- 
sults '.r Is it possible that any rational men, not to speak 
of Christians, should seriously believe and assert, that any 
machinery, whether that of the British System or any 
other, can ever produce, or serve to produce, moral and 
spiritual results? Such, however, is the case, and it shows 
to what a fearful disregard of God's word we have come, 
in the midst of professions of zeal for its cause. We 
want to produce moral and spiritual results ; but although 
there is a power expresssly pointed out to us by God, as 
the only source of all that is moral and spiritual, we 
either deny the universal presence of that power, or dis- 
regard it as a matter of minor importance, as a mere object 
of religious belief, and have recourse to machinery. Let 
those who advocate such principles, reflect for a moment 



NECESSITY OF EXPOSING IT. 143 

on the real nature of God's revelation, on one hand, and 
of their opinions and proceedings, on the other ; let 
them imagine for a moment our Saviour still dwelling 
on earth ; let them imagine themselves calling upon him in 
a body, and proposing to him to promote his kingdom 
in the hearts of little children by the machinery devised 
by Joseph Lancaster — let them imagine this, and if they 
have in their minds a living image of the Saviour, if 
the voice of his spirit be heard in their hearts, let them 
take the answer which they will there receive. 

I will not increase the number of quotations from the 
transactions of that day, as I have not introduced them 
from any invidious feelings, either towards the society, or 
towards any individual concerned on the pccasion ; but from 
a conviction, that in these days, in which it is the popular 
fashion to extol one another''s virtues, and to close our eyes 
upon one another's defects, however much they may mili- 
tate against Christ and his cause, it is a real charity if a 
man will take upon himself, to lay bare all the weakness, 
superficiality, and ignorance, which is displayed every 
where, and nowhere more than at the May-meetings ;* which 
are for the religious world, I believe, what the Christmas 
pantomimes are for the other. I have directed my 
remarks more especially against the British and Foreign 
School Society, rather than against any other, not because 
I think worse, but because I think better of it than of 
others ; and, I trust, it will always remain my principle 
and practice, most severely to censure those, in whose good 
intentions I have most confidence, and of whose zeal for 
improvement, and capability of amending their own notions, 

* From the same motive the author of these pages wrote, on a similar occa- 
sion, some strictures for insertion in a rehgious periodical, in the editing of 
which he took, at that time, a part. But his article was suppressed, avowedly 
for no other reason, but because the committee of the society concerned in the 
matter, had ordered two hundred copies of that number of the paper, which 
was to contain the report of their proceedings. This throws light on the man- 
ner, in which the suffrages of public opinion are obtained. 



144! EXAMIXATION OF THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. 

I have the greatest hope. " If the salt have lost its savour, 
wherewith shall it be salted ?" I was, I own it, grieved to 
hear, on that occasion, what I did hear ; and still more 
was I grieved, that I did not hear any thing respecting 
the true principles, or the real objects of education. All 
that was said, on this latter point, was a recommendation 
of the cause to the public, on the ground of the advan- 
tages, which society derived from a better education of its 
members;* a point on which I have sufficiently enlarged, 
in a former lecture, to pass it over without any farther 
remark on this occasion. Enough, I trust, has been said 
here, to show the dearth of real information, there is on the 
subject, even among those, whose active exertions prove 
them to be by no means indifferent to it. This will, how- 
ever, appear in a still more striking light, if we proceed to 
a review of those systems of education, which are now 
the order of the day, and which we must consider as the 
cream of what the public zeal and intelligence can produce 
in matters of education, seeing that they are every where 
praised up as the improvements of this enlightened age 
upon the darkness and silliness of our ancestors. As re- 
gards those ancient charities, which, every one takes for 
granted, are ill conducted, I may for this very reason 
be brief; nor am I, I confess, very conversant with the 
details of their systems, my knowledge of them being con- 
fined to what I have occasionally picked up. A visit which I 
once paid with a friend to a large charity school, down in 

* On another occasion, when the effect of education upon the diminution 
of crime was under discussion, I heard a noble lord, who cuts a conspicuous 
figure in the religious world, and, of course, at the May meetings too, express 
his decided approbation of the efforts made for the education of the poorer 
classes of this country, *' because, if the actual diminution of crime were a matter 
of doubt, it was, at least, beyond aU question, that the behaviour of those 
unhappy individuals, upon whom the sentence of the law was carried into 
effect, was greatly improved ; a fact which he would hail as a consequence of 
the more general spread of religious education !" Who would ever have ima- 
ginedfthat one of the objects of Christian education could be, to prepare a man 
to be hanged with better grace ? 



OLD-FASHIONED CHARITY SCHOOLS. 145 

the country, was not calculated to give me much informa- 
tion ; although I shall never forget the impression made on 
my mind, by several rows of boys, in blue coats and yellow 
trowsers, standing, all the time that we were in the room, 
with their copybooks held up with both hands towards us 
for inspection, after the manner of soldiers presenting arms, 
and with faces behind them as dead as sign posts, mecha- 
nically bowing by rows as we passed them, in going up 
and down the room, just as if it was the effect of some 
machinery, with springs concealed under the floor, over 
which we walked. I know that I felt, in that room, as if 
the air was too close for me to breathe in, and this feeling 
probably prevented me from entering into any conversation, 
either with the boys, or even with the master himself, 
whose countenance, full of benevolent monotony, expressed 
the greatest willingness to answer those questions which, 
from the physiognomical evidences of his intelligence, no 
one could be tempted to ask. More information, than 
from this visit, did I derive from a little boy, of about 
eleven yeai's old, who is a scholar in an old established 
charity school in London, and who called one Sunday 
morning on a visit to his mother, then engaged in my 
family as a nurse. " Well, my boy,"" said I, " do you go 
to school any where ?" " Yes, Sir," was his answer, " at 
such and such a place," naming the school. " How many 
boys are there in your school .'''" " Between sixty and 
seventy." " And how many good ones are there among 
you .?" " Not above a dozen, Sir !" " And what are you ? 
among the good ones, or among the bad ones ?''' " Oh, 
/ am among the good ones, Sir." " And how do you 
know that you are a good boy, and that all those other 
boys are bad ones .?" " Oh, because they cant read and 
write, and / can.''' In the course of some further conversa- 
tion, which I do not recollect verbatim, I ascertained that 
this extraordinary criterion of moral value was closely 
connected, in the boy's mind, with the change of places 
introduced in the school, as it appeared from the boy's 



146 THE NATIONAL AND THE BRITISH SYSTEMS. 

description of the ring in which they stood when reading, 
by the way of keeping pace with the improvements of the 
age. 

To these improvements it is due that we should now turn 
our attention, and I hope, we shall be able to take a tolerably 
complete review of them, by taking up, one after the other, 
the tliree leading systems, which divide among tliemselves 
the dominion over the rising intelligence of the plebeians of 
Great Britain, viz. 1. The Bell, ali/js Madras, alias 
National system, wliich, if there were lack of names, 
might also verv appropriately be called the square sys- 
tem;* iJ, The Laxcasteriax, alias Borough-Road, 
alias British svstem, which, in contra-distinction to the 
former, might also be termed the semicircular system; 
and, 3. of less name than the two preceding ones, the 
Ixfaxt system. 

As regards the two first named, the Xational and the 
British system, it would appear from these appellations, 
that they are aiming at the same thing, under different 
names ; at all events, it is a delicate matter to introduce 
thein both at the same time. and. as it were, in a parallel, 
considering that they have been rivals from the beginning ; 
and that tlie national system, as the younger of the two, 
has, to obviate. I suppose, anv confusion, which might 
arise from the striking similarity of their means and 
methods, always been careful to evince a proper spirit of 
alienation towards the other. Nevertheless, as my business 

* From the squares, draTm ■«!& chalk on the floor, to serve as a line of de- 
marcation for the toes of the boys. It is, however, but fair to mention, that, in 
some of the schools, a very near approach has been made to the circle ; still, it 
is supposed, ■without any departure from orthodox principles, and without 
danger of assimilation with nonconformist schools, whose distinctive feature is a 
semicircle by the waD side. This, and the circumstance that in the latter 
schools the seats are fixed, whereas they are moveable in the former, will, it is 
hoped, for ever effe«ually prevent any improper approximation of the schools 
patronized by the establishment, to the usages of '' schismatics," and the latter 
will have the great comfort of a visible distinction between their own institu- 
tions, and those which are the ofispring of " one of the daughters of the mother 
of abominations. ' ' 



TH£IK I>EKKCRATIO?r OF THE »CRIFTU»ES. 147 

is not with the NatUmal, nae the British iff steal, nor with 
the managers or patrons of either, but with the mode of 
education arlopte^l in their «chor>!i., I shall, at the risk of 
affronting brjth parties by sfi doing, take the liberty of 
a%?irx.iating thenn together, on thf/se points, on which I can- 
not discover any difference between them ; and mention 
them separately, only, with reference to such particulars, 
as I have actually observed them to differ in. 

The great matter which I have against them both, and 
in which I am afraid they are equally guilty, i.s the dese- 
cration of the Holy Scriptures, by making their contorts 
subservient to the iastruction in j^pelling and reading. 
Whether this be done by giving the Bible itself into the 
hands of the children as a spelling book, or by hanging 
scripture extracts round the walls, matters, of coarse, very 
little. The blame attaches to the want of a due regard 
for that book, which contains the records of the revelations 
of God to man, composed, by their various aotbcH^, under 
the immediate influence and direct inspiration of God's 
Holy Spirit. On this ground, and on this ground only — 
setting aside all the deplorable consequences resulting from 
such a system — I would reprobate, in the strongest terms, 
the profane practice of those schools, by which that, whJdi 
was given with a view, to inform as concerning the higiiest 
purpose of our whole existence, is degraded into means for 
the accomplishment of the most trivial purpose mder the 
sun, the mechanical attainment of reading. Is it cccisistent, 
I will not say with religious feeling, but merely with 
common sense and propriety, that that book, which, of aU 
books, requires the deepest thought, and the most perfect 
collect edneas <rf soul, to be read to any advantage, should, 
of all other books, be selected for that thoughtless exercise 
of sounding letters and syllables together ; that that book, 
which, of all others, it is most important for man, that he 
should learn to love and to esteem, should be made an 
object of dislike and disgust to him, from his very child- 
hood, by making it the object of laborious and unpleasa^ 

L 2 



148 PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS IN OUR AGE. 

tasks, and associating with it every recollection of what is 
disagreeable and contemptible ? What should we say, if 
we entered a school room, and we found the children 
spelling, day by day, and word by word, over the finest 
passages of Milton, or Shakspeare, extracted, and pasted 
on lesson boards, for that express purpose ? Should we not 
all cry shame upon such bad taste ? But the very men, who 
would consider this a piece of unpardonable vandalism, 
sanction, without any hesitation, the practice of using the 
Bible for that same purpose ; and, although they are pro- 
fessors and teachers of Christianity, and, as such, pretend, 
to hold the Scriptures in the highest estimation, yet they 
thus show, by their own doings, that they have more real 
veneration for the works of human genius, and more taste 
for classical beauties, than for the inspiration and the sim- 
plicity of the sacred writings. Have they ever considered 
that the practice sanctioned, nay enforced by them, involves 
a direct violation of the third commandment, the guilt of 
which will fall upon them ? For I put it to the whole 
Bench of Bishops, and to every divine in the kingdom, 
whether the name of the Lord can be taken more in vain, 
than if it be taken for a spelling or a reading exercise ? 
Let this question be answered ; or, if it must be admitted 
that the Lord's name is thus taken in vain, then let the 
impious practice be abolished, and let Scripture be used in 
schools, as elsewhere, for the purposes for which it is given, 
viz. " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- 
tion in righteousness." 

But the impiety of the practice is not the only ground 
on which it deserves to be condemned. The consequences 
which it has, and must have, in days like these, upon the 
religious state of the population at large, are too serious to 
be passed over in silence. It may be, that a century or two 
ago, when the social ties were less loosened and less dese- 
crated than they now are, when the minister was the priest 
of his congregation, not merely by law, or by contract, but 
in the feelings of every one, and when the school-master 



PIOUS SIMPLICITY OF FORMER AGES. 149 

too was a high priest in his school, and the school itself a 
tabernacle, — it may be, I say, that, in those times, the prac - 
tice of making the Bible a reading and spelling book, al- 
though not less erroneous in principle, was less corrupt in 
practice, and its influence consequently less prejudicial. 
But those times are gone by, when a feeling, which, although 
I would not recal it, if I could, yet I should be sorry to 
brand by the appellation superstitious, produced an impres- 
sion of awe in men, at the sight of their minister, and in 
boys at the sight of their school-master ; those were the 
old times, and they were good times too — but not perfect 
times, and this is the reason why they are gone by. We 
can no more recal them, than we can conjure up, from the 
bowels of the earth, the spirits of those that are gone before 
us : we may dig up their bones, we may frame them in 
silver and gold, we may inculcate the worship of them 
with infuriated bigotry, but we cannot restore to them that 
life, which, in their time, commanded the spontaneous 
offering of veneration from their fellow-creatures. So are 
the times that are gone by — we can uphold their forms, 
the dead material in which their living spirit was clothed ; 
we may borrow from the world all its splendour, and 
all its grandeur, the power of the sword, and the power of 
eloquence ; we may proclaim judgment upon all that 
refuse to prostrate themselves before thoserelics of an- 
tiquity ; but we are unable to infuse into them again 
that spirit, which called them into existence, and which 
gave them life, because that spirit is the spirit of a 
generation, gathered unto their fathers. To blame 
the resistance, which is made against such relics, or to 
condemn it, is as unwise and unjust, as it is 'profane 
to sneer, or even to smile, at the pious simplicity of 
former ages. The everlasting spirit of Christ has begot- 
ten, in his church visible, many a mortal spirit, as the life of 
imperfect systems, of forms and establishments too limited, 
too contracted in their origin, to attain unto his perfect 
stature. Every such spirit, as long as it dwelt on earth. 



150 THE FORMS OF RELIGION CHANGEABLE. 

was the representative, the image, of his perfect spirit, even 
as the light of the moon is the reflection of the light of 
the sun ; and, therefore, in its time, it was a proper object 
of veneration. Every such spirit, however, departed with 
the age to which it belonged : and as the sun beamed upon 
a new generation of men, so did the Sun of Righteousness 
shed its light upon another form of Christianity, to which it 
thus imparted life, and raised in it another spirit : but not 
until the spirit of a generation attain unto the fulness and 
the perfect stature of the everlasting source of all life, 
will the spirit of any age survive its age — ^nor will the 
forms in which it was clothed, retain their life after its de- 
parture. Till then, the wisdom of God will strive with the 
folly of men, whose resistance, it is to be feared, is increasing, 
in the same measure as the triumph of the heavenly powers 
is drawing near. As the dignities that are spiritual, are 
preparing their triumphant entrance, the dignities that are 
carnal, raise the shout of rebellion, and gird themselves 
for the last fatal struggle, in which they will be utterly 
annihilated. 

Blessed are they who, in such periods of crisis, when the 
ways of the multitude are as slippery ways in the dark- 
ness, have light enough to discern the plain path. Blessed 
are they for themselves, and through them will others be 
blessed. Blessed are they who harbour in their hearts a 
feeling of veneration and gratitude for every form in which 
He, whose name is holy and reverend, ever was worshipped ; 
and yet do not forget, that every form is but a dark glass, 
troubling the purity of that worship, — a perishable thing, 
which must pass away, that the perfect and the imperish- 
able may come, even as it is written — no less applicable to 
the whole church, than to any one of its members, — " it is 
sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown 
in dishonour, it is raised in glory ; it is sown in weakness, 
it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body," a church 
visible, a church of forms, sects, and distinctions, " and it is 
raised a spiritual body;" a church invisible, internal; a 



THE ATTACHMENT TO FORMS CARNAL. 151 

i 

church of spirit, of unity, and of peace. Oh, that men 
would see and believe the wondrous works which the Lord 
worketh among the children of men. That they would 
not stop to cry, " lo, here !" and " lo, there !" but follow 
onwards, whithersoever his spirit doth lead. But to do 
this, requires a self-denying spirit, a spirit which has no 
regard to any thing human or earthly, which cares not for 
the glory of any man, or of any human institution, but 
seeketh only the glory of Him, who is above all. Where, 
then, do we find this self-denying spirit, where this dis- 
regard for carnal distinctions, and carnal things , and, on 
the contrary, a holy zeal for spiritual distinctions, and 
spiritual things ? Alas ! there is nothing but envy and 
strife, nothing but opposition, separation, and alienation, 
under a show of charity, which, in truth, is nothing but 
compromise for the eye-service of man. It is not by the 
language which men hold towards each other, there, where 
they must tolerate each other, that we are to measure their 
toleration ; but by the exertions which they make, when 
left to their own course, either to establish their own, and to 
propagate their own, or to enlarge it, and render it more 
universal. How does this matter stand with us .'' Are 
those congratulations on an enlightened spirit, on mutual 
charity and good feeling, which we hear so often repeated, 
the faithful expression of what animates men in their 
general behaviour ; or are they mere phrases, used as cus- 
tomary compliments on certain occasions — in the same 
manner as we say, " your obedient and humble servant .?'"' 
There is no department of life, in which the real truth 
will be more clearly manifested, than in education. See 
what are their doings there. Are the efforts of the leading 
men, in the organization of schools, and especially in the 
regulation of religious instruction, calculated to annihi- 
late, or, at least, to diminish, those outward distinctions 
among Christians, which they wear as badges of a carnal 
spirit ? Are there any attempts to forget, in the field of 
education, their sects and parties, and the interests of 



152 SECTARIAN INSTIIUCTION. 

them ; to unite, as fellow-labourers of the same Lord, in 
the same work, to give to the rising generation a religion, 
which shall be neither Church of Englandism nor dissen- 
terism of any kind, but a purer, more perfect, more Christian 
faith than any of them ? 

To this question I need not return an answer ; — the facts 
speak for themselves. What is the reason that the Church 
Catechism is an essential part of religious instruction in 
all the " nationaV schools, but because in these schools, 
the name of which aiFects to set aside the very existence of 
any other party, the children are to know nothing of 
Christianity, except what part of it the Church of England 
has found proper to recognize, and finds proper to teach ? 
Will any, the most zealous churchman, stand forward 
and say, that the Catechism contains all the chief doctrines, 
all the leading features of Christianity, or that it gives of 
any of them a more complete, a more clear, a more perfect, 
or even a more intelligible view than Scripture itself ? Is 
not the Catechism the work of man, handed down from 
man to man, and does it not, therefore, come fully under 
the meaning of the declarations, which our Lord so re- 
peatedly made against the traditions of men ? Will any 
argue that he referred only to the traditions that existed 
in his time, not to those that were to come after him ? If 
so, then, to be consistent, we must say, that, when he speaks 
of unbelievers, of hypocrites, of adulterers, of liars, and 
breakers of covenant, he alludes only to those of his time, 
and that it has no reference to us. And, indeed, from the 
present aspect of the Christian world, it Avould seem as 
if this were the received opinion. But if it must be ad- 
mitted that every word which our Saviour himself spoke, 
and every word which was spoken by men divinely in- 
spired, is applicable, not only to the moment when, and 
to the thing concerning which, it was spoken, but to every 
thing of a similar description, and to every period of time, 
as sure as the word of the Lord endureth for ever, then, 
it cannot be denied, that inculcating a human comment 



HUMAN SUMMARIES OF RELIGION. 153 

upon, or abstract of, the divine revelation, and setting it 
up, directly or indirectly, authoritatively, or by the way 
of recommendation, as a standard of faith, is acting in 
the face of our Lord's prohibition, not to teach for doc- 
trines the commandments of men, — and is, although it 
may be unintentionally and unknowingly, making vain 
the word of God by the traditions of men. It will not 
avail against this to say, " we do not see the impropriety 
of teaching a catechism, — it contains nothing that is false, 
and, if it does no good, it can do no harm." If man was 
able to understand the nature and consequences of all 
that he does, he would not require any commandment ; 
but seeing that he is a fallen creature, who, in his dark- 
ness and blindness, sinneth to his own hurt, God has 
laid down positive rules for his conduct, which to obey, 
is the first duty of every one, that claims the name of a 
Christian. To act openly, consciously, nay, systematically, 
in the face of any of those rules, is denying practically, 
what is theoretically asserted, and thus, to say the very 
least of it, invalidating the testimony, which we indivi- 
dually bear to the word of truth. Hence, if it were im- 
possible to point out the evils of teaching by a catechism, 
the practice might yet be condemned, on the simple ground 
of absolute obedience to the revealed will of God, which 
prohibits the addition of any human summary or explana- 
tion of faith, to the substance of that, which God himself 
gave through his prophets, and generally through the 
inspired writers. This jealousy, however, is not very 
difficult to be explained ; a moment's reflection on the 
nature of divine truth, which is infinite life and spirit, and 
the nature of human thought, which, until it be perfectly 
restored, is always limited, must convince us, that the 
former can neither be condensed nor enlarged, neither 
abridged nor explained, by the latter. What God him_ 
self has taken ages to reveal, and volumes to record, it is 
impertinent for man to sum up in a couple of pages. 
Have they, who advocate catechisms and creeds, ever 



154 REVELATION ESSENTIALLY UNSYSTEMATIC. 

asked themselves the question, " Why was the revelation 
of God given in so unsystematic a manner ?" — a difficulty 
which is not to be explained by archaeological remarks on 
the manners of past ages — but by the very nature of the 
thing called system, when contrasted with the idea of 
divine truth. System is a map, a table, of our knowledge ; 
it is in words what a diagram is in lines. Hence, it has 
boundaries on all sides, and is abundantly intersected by 
lines of distinction and of separation, so much so, that the 
closeness of the framework, and the number and conse- 
quent fineness of the • distinctions, constitutes the beauty, 
and, if there be not contradiction in adjecto, the perfection 
of a system. But divine truth has no boundaries, and no 
intersections ; it is inseparable and infinite, one and uni- 
versal ; the whole is in each part, and each part represents 
the whole : and, therefore, divine revelation could never be 
given in the form of a system ; nor could it ever be lawful 
for any man, to draw up, much less to inculcate, a system 
of divinity. It was a pardonable arrogance in the map- 
projectors of the last century, to indulge their pencil in 
the outline of large tracts, under the denomination terra 
incognita ; but that maps should be drawn of what is 
known to be infinite, and, therefore, incapable of being 
represented by any outline, is an unpardonable piece of 
presumption. It may be, and I am far from disputing it, 
that there are heads, to whom religion appears much 
clearer, when brought under the form of a system ; but 
that only proves, that they stand in the greatest need of 
unsystematic religion, being in the number of those, who, 
hy wisdom, know not God. He who cannot be gained to 
religion without a system, is lost for it already ; and he 
who gains religion by a system, or as a system, is lost for 
the spirit of it. This is the true reason, why the books, 
which contain the revelations of God to man, are the most 
unsystematic books to be found on the face of the earth ; — 
the degree of education of the inspired writers, has nothing 
at all to do with the matter — for it will, I trust, not be 



THE CATECHISM IN NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 155 

denied, that, had a system been required or desirable, the 
Holy Spirit might have imparted to them, by a miracle, 
quite as much, and as good an education, as is to be got 
at Oxford and Cambridge, or even at the New London 
University. 

If the above remarks be applicable to systems of divi- 
nity, generally speaking, they bear with still greater force 
upon catechisms, which, being mere synopses of systems, 
contain still less of the life, and comparatively more of 
the letter* Nothing can be more pernicious, than that a 
person should imagine himself to be in possession of the 
sum and substance of religion ; which, however, in the 
sense of our schools, is the case with those who have got 
the catechism by heart. Religion is reduced to a dry 
catalogue of articles of belief — the interest in it is lost, 
unless religious conceit, of all conceits the worst, come in 
as a stimulus ; and out of a number that have been so 
taught, some will turn out hypocritical zealots, the great 
mass indifferent professors, not a small number infidels, 
and a few, but a very few, will overcome the disgust in 
their feelings, and the staleness of intellect with which 
religious subjects are associated in their minds, and, emerg- 
ing from the rubbish of words, under which the Spirit 
has been buried in them, will see the open daylight 
of the worship of God in Spirit and in Truth. I 
am convinced, for my own part, not as a matter of 
hypothesis, but from observation, that the spread of 
infidelity, observable in our days, among the lower orders, 
receives much less encouragement from the contemptible 
exertions of a Taylor or a Carlile, than from the in- 
adequacy, on one hand, and the sectarianism, on the other 
hand, of the religious instruction, given in the schools for 
the poor, especially in those belonging to the establish- 
ment, the ministers of which stand in need of wisdom, more 
than any other, if they sincerely purpose to lead their 
flocks unto Christ. I have already alluded to the fact, 
that on a veneration, a priori, for the gown or the surplice, 



156 DIFFICULTY OF CHUKCH-EDUCATIOX. 

nothing is to be built in the present day ; to this must be 
added.^the contrast which the abiindant and secure pro- 
vision made^ for the clergy generally, forms witli the dis- 
tressed and anxious position of most of those whom they 
teach, not to take thought what they shall eat and drink ; 
andiwhich becomes more striking, the more the difScultv 
of gaining an honest subsistoace increases. This circum- 
stance, together with the conduct of manv who are minis- 
ters of Christ, from no other reason, but because it is a 
ffood trade, and who. "exacting the uttermost farthing from 
the indigent, literallv devour widows* houses, affords so 
much occasion for cavil, even among those who do not 
contest the principle of making the mini stry of the gos- 
pel a means of livelihood, that a minister of the establish- 
ment is iQ the most delicate and the most difficult position, 
that can well be imagined, if he really be conscientious in 
the discharge of his duties. The onlv hold he has. is the 
internal evidence of religion in the heart of the child, the 
Light who will bear witness to His own word — and his only 
wisdom is to keep to this good hold, and to shake off all 
that belongs to his position, as member of an outward 
establishment, the appearances of which will alwavs be 
against him and his cause. Besides, it ought to be consi- 
dered, that it is of little importance, after all, whether a 
man belong to the Church of England or not, provided he 
belong to the church of Christ : that, at all events, his 
joining one denomination of Christians, in preference to 
another, must depend upon the private judgment of the 
individual, when he has grown matiu-e. and can weigh the 
different points at issue between them ; and that one person, 
joining the establishment on principle, when come to 
vears of discretion, from a feeling of gratitude for having 
received in it a Christian education, in truth and in spirit, 
would be worth thousands of indifferent members, who 
belong to the establishment, because they happen to have 
been trained in it, and do not care sufficiently for religion 
to dissent from it. This is far the worst state, into which 



SERVILE MANNERS IN NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 157 

any church can fall — and, unfortunately, it is the state of 
all the churches in this country, whether established or 
dissenting — that its membership and profession should be- 
come a hereditary habit, handed down from father to son, 
without any strong interest or feeling for or against. Such 
a state of staleness always precedes an extensive apostacy, 
which I fear has already begun among us. There are hun- 
dreds and thousands, who daily throw away the Bible, and 
cast off the fear of God, as a yoke imposed upon them by 
priestcraft, who would not do so, if, instead of being tor- 
mented to disgust with the letter of religion, they were 
instructed in the spirit of it : and if, instead of being trained 
to sectarian bondage, by the inculcation of a catechism, 
they were educated to the freedom of the gospel. 

But it is time that I should resume the National 
Schools. Besides the desecration of the Bible, which they 
have in common with the British system, and the spiritual 
bondage of the Catechism, which belongs to them more 
exclusively, there is another feature in the management of 
them, which deserves to be condemned, not only on the 
score of principle, but likewise on account of its tendency 
to increase the aversion against religion, I mean the servility 
of manner enforced in those schools. I do not know, who 
may be pleased, but, I doubt not, that many have, like 
myself, been shocked, at those stiff rectangular bows, with 
which you are saluted in National Schools, by boys, in 
whose faces you can often read, that it would be far more 
consistent with their feelings to throw stones at you. 
What can be the meaning of this part of the discipline, I 
am at a loss to know. I cannot suppose it to be pride, for 
it must be a low pride, indeed, that could be gratified by such 
bearish tokens of reverence ; nor can I well conceive any 
one to be so ignorant of human nature, as to expect that 
a habitual subordination may thus be produced in the mind. 
It seems to require but little knowledge of physiognomy, 
to decipher in the faces of such boys the fact, that the lower 
they are now made to bow, the more stiffly will they hold up 



158 ENFORCED BY MERCENARY MOTIVES. 

their heads, as soon as they get out of the reach of school dis- 
cipline ; and for those who cannot read that plain superscrip- 
tion, there seems to be another and less equivocal source of 
information, viz., the daily experience of the insolence of 
many of the lower orders in their transactions with those, 
who hold a higher station in society. This insolence, for 
which the hope of getting money occasionally substitutes 
a servile civility, appears to increase in an equal ratio with 
the dependence of the poor on the rich for support. This 
dependence I have nowhere seen greater and more oppres- 
sive than in this land of liberty, — and so, likewise, have I 
nowhere observed such a general want of respect, such a 
wanton desire to be offensive, prevailing among the lower 
classes of society. In how far a servile mode of education 
is the cause of this state of things, I will not now inquire ; 
but certain it is, that it must have a very strong tendency 
to produce such an effect, and that if the evil should 
originate in other causes, so far from proving a remedy, the 
discipline adopted in the National Schools will only increase 
it. But, strong as my objections are against this neglect and 
suppression of every natural good feeling in the boys to- 
wards their masters, and the substitution of an artificial 
mock-respect, — for more it never can amount to, — I must 
enter a still more decided protest against the connexion of 
these servile manners with mercenary motives, and of both 
together with the knowledge of religion, and with the 
feeling: of moral estimation. Of this abomination — for it 
deserves no other name — I had once a fine, though by no 
means an extraordinary specimen, on paying a visit to one 
of the National Schools in London. After I had been in 
the school for some time, the clergyman of the parish 
entered, and took his seat. The first class was taken in 
hand by him, and ordered to read the appointed lessons from 
the Bible. They did so, after the manner in which it is 
done in those schools, viz., without any attention whatever 
to the subject ; all the boys not engaged in reading aloud 
at the moment, being closely on the watch for the mistakes. 



A NATIONAL SCHOOL VISITED. 159 

Avhich the one boy, whose turn it was to read aloud, might 
fall into, and he, of course, being equally absorbed in the 
endeavour to keep his eyes and lips from blundering. With 
this disposition of mind, additionally excited, now and then, 
by the change of places, and the feelings of envy, pride, or 
revenge, to which it gave rise, the chapter was read through 
in rotation ; which being done, the clergyman began to 
question the children. All his questions, however, were 
such as the children could answer only by reference to the 
book, without being in any way directed or induced to 
reflect on the import of what they had read through, and 
were now talking about. After having asked all the ques- 
tions, the answers to which were contained in the chapter 
read, he proceeded to a second course of questioning, Avhich 
was, to ask the children for parallel passages from other 
parts of the Bible, according to the marginal references, 
printed in some editions of the Scriptures. This was his 
instruction, an instruction in the letter indeed, but without 
the life ! And what did he proceed to next ? " The three 
best boys come here," and, frowning round the circle, he 
called the names of three boys, who had been most expert 
in reading or in referring to the chapter before them, or in 
reciting by heart the chapter and verse of parallel passages. 
After which the three boys, one after the other, stepped 
out of their places, and stood before the clergyman, after 
the usual rectangular bow, with their heads hanging down 
to the ground, as if they were ashamed of the transaction, 
and their hands, which had first been raised in a quadrant 
to the top of their skulls, remaining stretched out in a 
begging position. With a dignity of manner, worthy of 
that great occasion, and with an air, expressing a con- 
sciousness of the importance of that office, to which the keys 
of the kingdom are attached, the clergyman then put his 
hand into his breeches pocket, from which he drew forth — 
' not the keys of the kingdom, indeed, — but three distinct 
twopences, and handed them' to the boys before him, saying : 
" Here, I give you a two-pence each for having been good 



160 THEY HAVE THEIR REWAKU- 

boys." And the boys having tlien '' got their reward," clasp* 
ing it in their lists, Avithdrew Mith tlie same rectangular 
bend of tlie back and quadrant movement of the hand as 
before. Now I would ask : If these boys had actually 
done their duty, was it right to direct their attention away 
from the internal satisfaction of that consciousness, which is 
tlie rewai-d appointed by God for the child, to the mean 
gratification of a boyish vanitv, and of a mercenary spirit ? 
Was it right to substitute the applause of men, and the 
eift of mi\mmon to the deliohtful feelinsj of havins; done 
right, which, whether acknowledged as such or not, ij^ 
nothing else, but the voice of the everlasting word in 
man"'s conscience ? And, if they had not done their duty 
as well as they could, if, perhaps, thev had only done 
what they might have done hidf asleep, from the routine 
of doing it, or if they had been lazy and ill-behaved, the 
whole morning, but collected themselves during this one 
half-hour, for the specific purpose of getting the tAVo-pence, 
what effect must the transaction then have produced upon 
them ? INIust they not have found in it a practical 
evidence of the excellency of the maxim, that he, who is 
cunnino' enouoh, can combme with the induloence of vi- 
cious habits, the honours and advantages of good con- 
duct ? M'hat must have been, the feelings of some other 
boys, perhaps less gifted, or more neglected in their edu- 
cation, and who, with ten times greater efforts to gain the 
prize, were disappointed ? And as regards the conscience 
and judgment of the clergyman himself, who acted this 
scene, I would ask : Where is his authority for calling 
these three boys, the best boys ? Can he ansAver for it, 
that they were not, even during this half hour, consider- 
ing their feelings and motives, perhaps the three Avorst 
boA's in the Avhole number ? Does he not intend to pro- 
duce moral effect by his rcAvard ? But hoAv can he expect 
to do that, unless his judgment be confirmed by the moral 
feelings of all the boys, those reAvarded. as Avell as those 
not rcAvarded ? And is there, I Avill not say a pi'obability, 



THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD FOK MAMMON^S SAKE. 161 

but a mere possibility, of a judgment, so formed, and so 
pronounced, being in accordance with the moral feelings 
of any of them ? Is it not rather probable that the boys 
rewarded by him, are, of all, the most despised and de- 
tested, on account of their general character ? And does 
he not suspect, that if there be really a noble-minded 
and noble-hearted boy in the school, he will ten thousand 
times rather be ranked with the bad boys, than earn a 
reward so obtained and so distributed ? And, lastly, by 
virtue of his own office, I would ask him : Is he ordained 
to teach, that the knowledge of God, and the practice of 
virtue, are to be sought for Mammoris saJce ? 

I should be sorry to impeach the intentions of any one, 
particularly on this subject ; knowing, as I do, that 
those of the clergy, who take the most active part in the 
fostering of this plan of education, are generally the 
most pious, the most conscientious and exemplary members 
of the establishment ; and that they do these things, from 
ignorance and want of reflexion, having been brought up 
themselves in similar prejudices and false principles ; 
and having, perhaps, never been led to sift the matter tho- 
roughly. Of the men, therefore, and of their intentions, 
I repeat it, I should be sorry to speak evil, or to be un- 
derstood to do so ; but of the practice itself, I must say, 
that it is execrable ; inasmuch as, under the pretence of 
promoting the kingdom of Christ, it has a direct tendency 
to promote that of the Devil, and to bring about ajstate 
of feeling in Christendom, to which the words of the 
prophet may well be applied : " Therefore my people are 
gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge : 
and their honourable men are famished, and their multi- 
tude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged 
herself, and opened her mouth without measure : and 
their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he 
that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.*" 

So much for the cultivation of religion and moral feelinsr 
in national schools ; for although many more defects might 

M 



162 INTELLIGENCE IN NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 

be enumerated, yet the instances which have been ad- 
duced, are sufficient to form a correct estimate of the spirit 
which pervades the whole. It remains to be seen what 
those schools do for the intelligence of the country. The 
specimens already given speak, in some degree, for the 
character of the instruction, inasmuch as they shew that the 
chief object is the getting by rote of certain prescribed 
tasks, the mechanical performance of which is deemed satis- 
factory evidence of the children's progress. This receives 
an additional confirmation from the fact, that the very same 
boys whose examination by the clergyman of the parish 
I have described, could not, upon being asked by a friend 
of mine, " What they required for answering his ques- 
tions .?" find out any thing else but their Bibles ; as this 
was declared not to be sufficient, they began to talk (pro- 
fanely enough !) of grace, and the holy spirit ; but it was 
with great difficulty that they discovered their mouths, and 
at length also their minds, to be engaged in the transac- 
tion. And these same boys quoted, with great rapidity, 
strings of references to the profoundest doctrines of divi- 
nity. Sapienti sat ! 

But what affiDrds the most convincing evidence on 
this subject, and what I wish, therefore, all those that 
are interested in it, to witness themselves, if they have 
the opportunity, is the yearly public examination of 
the central school at Baldwin's Gardens. I have been 
present on one of those occasions, and what I then wit- 
nessed, far exceeded all my conceptions of manufacture- 
teaching. What struck my mind most forcibly in the 
whole display, was a sort of co-operative plan in the solu- 
tion of an arithmetical question. This was done, like all 
the rest, in rotation, the first boy beginning, for instance, 
6 times 3 are 18 ; second boy : put 8 and carry 1 ; third 
boy : 6 times 2 are 12 ; fourth hoy : 12 and 1 are 13 '-, fifth 
hoy : put 3 and carry 1 ; sixth hoy : 6 times 7 are 42 ; 
seventh hoy : 42 and 1 are 43 ; eighth hoy : put 3 and 
carry 4 : and so all round and round, again and again, till 
the whole of it was gone through. Now, although un- 



PUBLIC EXAMINATION BEFORE THE BISHOPS. 163 

questionably all the children could, with a moderate degree 
of attention, get the ciphers correctly on their slates, it is 
evident that, with all this, there might, perhaps, not have 
been more than two in the whole number, who could have 
solved the same problem for themselves. But what is far 
more important is, that such a plan of instruction is the 
direct way of preventing them from ever thinking about 
what they are doing, and thus cutting off every chance of 
their understanding it. With their memory-knowledge 
of the multiplication, addition, and other tables, thev 
are put into this machinery, which, like the wheel of a 
treadmill, although put in motion by the joint exertions of 
those in it, overpowers the individual, and forces him to go 
on at any rate, whether he be disposed to do so or not. 
Not to mention the absolute ignorance in which the children 
in those schools always remain concerning number, their 
attention being only directed to ciphers, I question whe- 
ther the above plan is calculated to make even good ci- 
pherers. For if there be no knowledge of numbers, there 
should be some understanding, at least as far as it can be 
had without the other, of the ciphering system, that the 
pupil may not be the blind instrument of rules, blindly 
learned by rote. Nevertheless the solution of the ques- 
tion, as I have described it to you, gave general satisfac- 
tion to a number of the bishops, and a large public, assem- 
bled on the occasion ; and so did the reading of a long list of 
alms — or reward — givings, at the end of the examination, de- 
creeing to one girl an apron, to another girl a pair of shoes, 
to such a boy half a crown, to such another boy a pair of 
trowsers, &c. ; that both the givers and receivers might be 
seen and known of men ! The observations I made at 
that examination, I found confirmed by private visits to 
the schools ; and, among the rest, to one which I may, with 
the more propriety, instance in support of the charges I 
have brought against the system^ as I can, from personal 
acquaintance, bear the highest testimony to the zeal, as 
well as the generally enlightened views of the clergyman, 

M 2 



164 ANOTHER NATIONAL SCHOOL VISITED. 

who presides over it, and in whose company I vi- 
sited it. I asked the children to read the parable 
of the Prodigal Son, and among other questions which I 
put to them, was this : " What is meant by riotous living .?" 
" Dissipated living." " And what does dissipated living 
mean .?"" " Wasteful living.'" " And what is the mean- 
ing of wasteful living ?'''' To this question, as their 
collection of synonymes was exhausted, I received no an- 
swer, and therefore, to get upon intelligible ground, I asked 
them what things were necessary for subsistence, and what 
not ; when some of the girls contended that beer, and 
cheese, and cakes, and patties, were indispensably neces- 
sary for life. And as in this case, so I found it invariably, 
whenever and wherever I travelled out of the road of those 
questions, which have for their object to direct the chil- 
dren's attention to mere words ; on the most common sub- 
jects I found their ideas unclear and confused, and the 
same children, who would use the most correct language as 
long as they remained in the track of what they were just 
then reading, or what they had learned by rote, were unable 
to express themselves even with tolerable correctness on 
other matters ; a clear proof, that their apparent knowledge 
was a mere word-knowledge, in the acquisition or advan- 
tages of which the mind had no share. Thus, on another 
visit, the boys were exhibiting their slates, on which they 
had written various words.. I stopped one among the 
rest, who had the word " disadvantageous.'''' " What 
does that word mean, my boy r'' " I don't know." • " You 
know, perhaps, what disadvantage means .f*" " No." 
" Do you know, what advantageous means .?" " No." 
Or, have you ever heard the word advantage, what does 
that mean ?" " I don't know." " Well, but suppose you 
lost your jacket, would that be an advantage or a disad- 
vantage to you T' " An advantage !" was his answer. 

It would be unfair, however, to let it be supposed that 
facts, such as these, are only to be met with in national 
schools. On this head the British system is quite as de- 
fective. Its method of ciphering, though different in some 



A LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL VISITED. 165 

of the details, is, on the whole, no less objectionable, as it is, 
like the other, a mere mechanical application of the me- 
chanical rules of ciphering, mechanically inculcated into the 
memory. And, as regards the preposterous exercise of 
learning to read and to write words, selected merely from 
a regard to the number of their syllables, by which the 
children are so stupified, that they lose the habit of think- 
ing altogether, and do not care about the meaning even of 
that which they might understand, I recollect a fact which 
far outdoes the boy, who thought it an advantage for him 
to lose his jacket. It was at a Lancasterian school, and 
one which has the name of being among the best con- 
ducted ; so at least I was told by my friend, who went 
with me, and who is one of the managers. When we 
entered the room, we found the boys engaged in writing 
words of different lengths, according to the order of their 
seats ; I passed by those, in which such words as " ap- 
proximation, superintendency/' and the like, caught my 
eye, and, looking over the sentences which some of the 
more advanced boys were writing, I found one who had 
copied, about half a dozen times, the words : " Live in 
love." " What are you writing here.'*"" I asked. " Live 
in love." " And what does that mean ?" " I don't know !" 
" You don't know ! But don't you know Avhat ' love' 
means ?''"' " No !" " Or do you know what ' live' 
means .''" " No !" " What must you do to live in love ?'''* 
" I don't know !" " Do you know what you must not do, 
to live in love !" " No, I don't I" " Well, but you 
should know something about what ' Live in love'' means. 
Does it mean that you are to fight with the other boys ?''' 
" I can't tell!" " Well," said I, turning to my friend, 
" what do you say to this .^" Upon Avhich the school- 
master, observing somewhat of the scope of our conversa- 
tion, came up to us, and said : " I dare say, you might 
ask such questions all over the school, without getting a 
better answer ; they none of them know what they are 
Writing." 



166' THE LEVERS OF THE BRITISH SYSTEM. 

Is there any rational man, who will pretend, that this is 
a proper way of cultivating children's minds, even if it 
were for no higher purpose than the business of this life ? 
And where is the Christian, who must not deplore, that 
hundreds and thousands of souls, who are to undergo the 
most powerful operations, to be fitted for the kingdom of 
heaven, should be condemned to such systematic barren- 
ness and indifference, in those years in which our mental 
and moral habits are formed, generally for life ? And yet 
glad should I be, if there was no worse feature in the British 
system, than the want of intelligence in the mode of 
imparting instruction, — if its only fault was, that it does not 
sufficiently enliven and call into action, the energies of the 
mind. There is a far heavier charge to be made against 
it, the charge that it enlists those energies, as far as it does 
cultivate them, in the service of evil. It is not so much 
by what is taught in a school, both in matters of general 
knowledge, and especially on the subject of our moral 
duties, that I would judge of its value, as by the leading 
motives which are called into action in the pupils, and 
upon which the whole life of the school is founded. It is 
on this ground, that the spirit of a school, or of a system, 
is to be tried — it is on this ground, that I have expressed 
my decided disapprobation of the servile and reward-seek- 
ing spirit, which is planted in national schools ; and it is 
on this ground, that I feel myself called upon, to reprobate 
the whole system of discipline, foundation and all, which 
forms the soul of the Borough Road system, and for a de- 
tailed knowledge of which I would refer to the " Manual of 
the System of Teaching Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, 
in the Elementary Schools of the British and Foreign School 
Society," pp. 60-65, under the heads, " Emulation and 
" Rewards,'''' and " Punishments.''' It is there stated, 
that, " to some boys, the pleasure of excelling their com- 
" peers, and of obtaining the approbation of their master, 
" is sufficient incitement ;" but that, " to promote a more 
" general emulation, every boy is rewarded, who distin- 



EMULATION AIDED BY REWARDS. 167 

" guishes himself m performing his lesson, or by his atten- 
*' tion and orderly conduct in the school." Thus, then, 
it seems, the broad basis on which even the rewards rest, 
is emulation, a feeling expressly condemned in Scripture as 
" a work of the flesh." The British system does not recognize 
the primitive impulse of a divine agency in us, towards all 
that is good and lovely ; it does not recognize the existence 
of a source of pure motives, from which alone good can 
spring, and without which there can be no real perform- 
ance of duty, no truly good conduct. In the supposed 
absence of, or, at all events, the entire want of faith in, a 
source of pure and disinterested motives, the British 
system has recourse to the wish of excelling or outdoing 
one another. To render this feeling, in itself bad enough, 
if possible, still more corrupt, there ai'e badges appended to 
the boys, for the express purpose of singling them out, 
either as boys of merit, or as offenders, (see p. 11 of the 
same publication,) thus encouraging, in the most open and 
direct manner, that pride of righteousness, which our 
Lord so powerfully illustrated in the parable of the Pha- 
risee and the Publican. As far, then, as this goes, the 
British system is decidely guilty of insuring both, applica- 
tion and good conduct, by an appeal to a corrupt motive, 
in fact to the devil, or what is of the devil, in the child. 
But, strange to tell, they who have no faith at all in the 
effectual operation of a good and holy power, to bring the 
child to a performance of his duty, seem not even to have 
much faith in that wicked power, to whose workings in 
the human heart they have recourse, as the great vehicle 
of making the children obedient, if not to the claims of 
Christ, at least to those of the Lancasterian system. 
They are fearful lest Beelzebub, of himself, might not be 
efficient enough, and so they call in Mammon to his assis- 
tance ; or what else does it mean, when it is said that, " to 
promote a more general emulation, every boy is rewarded, 
who distinguishes himself.'''' But it is worth while to ex- 
amine in detail the operations of this system, in which two 



168 LANCASTERIAN POPERY. 

evil spirits are so ingeniously yoked together in the service 
of man. " Tickets of nominal value are given to deserv- 
ing boys each school time, which are called in at the end 
of every three months, and rewards are paid to the holders 
in exchange. These tickets are valued at the rate of eight 
for one penny.''"' It is not a mere prospect of reward, by 
which the pupils are encouraged ; a prize stuck up at the 
end of a long career, which they must run through to attain 
it : — ^ no, a reward is immediately bestowed upon every per- 
formance of duty, the very same morning or afternoon. A 
distant prospect, it is apprehended, might not act power- 
fully enough ; thus the children are accustomed to " love a 
reward upon every cornfloor," and in whatsoever they do, 
instead of doing it, according to the apostle"'s injunction, for 
the glory of God, to " love gifts, and follow after rewards." 
So effectual is the operation of this admirable principle, that 
the fact has actually occurred in a Lancasterian School 
that, upon the mistress proposing a task of rather a novel 
description, the girls asked her, whether they should have 
tickets for doing it, openly declaring, that if there was no 
reward attached to it, they would not do it. " Point 
(Targent, point de Suisse.'''' The daily getting of a reward, 
for every thing that is called " deserving," by the British 
system, is, however, not sufficient, properly to cultivate an 
hireling spirit. To complete this part of its education, the 
system gives proper encouragement to a calculating spirit ; 
first of all by the conversion of the reward tickets into sub- 
stantial rewards every three months, and, secondly, by a 
popish sort of indulgence-trade, which the children are 
permitted to carry on with them before their conversion 
into real property, and by which those reward tickets come 
fully under the denomination of the ^^ Mammon of un- 
righteousness.'''' Under the head " Punishments," we are 
informed that at the close of each school time, " the bad 
boys are classed into divisions, corresponding with the 
number of their offences, and are required to pay one 
ticket for each offence ; those who do so, are dismissed, and 



OBVIOUS EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM. 169 

those who have no tickets, are confined a quarter of an 
hour for every offence reported against them.''' And lest 
any doubt should remain on the subject, it is farther stated 
that, ' ' in all cases, the parties may he excused from con- 
jinement, if they are in possession of reward tickets, by 
forfeiting them, at the rate of one ticket for every quarter 
of an hour's detention." Not enough that the child is 
taught to do his duty, not from conscientious feeling of 
obligation, but for reward's sake; he is also taught, and that 
in the most effectual manner, viz., by practice, that past 
good conduct amounts to a license for the commission of 
sin. This may not be the intention of the framers of those 
ill-contrived regulations, but it is the necessary effect of 
them. How easy is it, for instance, for a clever boy, to 
gain reward tickets, to a considerable amount, by attention 
to reading, spelling, and arithmetic, all of Avhich, he may, 
if he prefer present indulgence to future gratification, con- 
vert into as many tickets of license for the perpetration of 
such offences, as are particularly to his taste. I call upon 
those that are candid, among the advocates of the Bri- 
tish system, to deny, if they can, on the score of prin- 
ciple, that, from such causes, such effects must follow, or, 
on the ground of practical experience, that such effects are 
actually taking place. And if they have not been ob- 
served as frequently, as might be anticipated, is there not 
reason to suppose, that this may partly be owing to the 
want of close contact, on the part of the master, with every 
individual child, an evil which is the necessary conse- 
quence of the much extolled machinery of the British 
system, and which, on more than one ground, calls loudly 
for a remedy ? Be that as it may, the effect of the remis- 
sion of punishment, for the forfeiture of rewards, is obvious 
enough, and the fact has been admitted to me, by some, 
who have had opportunities, more than myself, of watching 
the practical effects of the system. But, even without such 
an admission, it would be evident, from the combination of 
all the influences enumerated, that the British system must 



170 A FEW QUEllIES TO THE CANDID. 

beget a set of hirelings, who, for hire's sake, do the good, 
and, for liire*'s sake^ abstain from evil. But, as if there had 
been an anxiety to collect, on the score of motives, all 
that is unscriptural, and to put it into practice in those 
schools, the conversion of the reward tickets into actual 
rewards, at the expiration of each three months, is cele- 
brated in the following manner. " When all the boys 
*' have received the prizes, they are conducted round the 
" school-room, by the general monitors, who proclaim, 
" that they have obtained their prizes, for good behaviour, 
" regular attendance, and improvement in learning : 
" After walking two or three times round the school, they 
" are permitted to go home," Is not this, in plain language, 
sounding a trumpet before the boys ? 

Now, I would ask my Christian friends — for so, I know, 
some of the managers and supporters of the British sys- 
tem will permit me to call them, in spite of what I have 
said against that system — I would ask them, as Christians, 
whether they can justify any of these practices indivi- 
dually ; the setting aside of genuine moral feeling ; the 
stimulus of appearing greater and better, one than the 
other; the seeking a reward for every performance of 
duty ; the exemption from punishment through rewards 
before gained ; the calculation of the total amount of these 
rewards within a given period ; and, lastly, the going round 
" the corners"" of the school, with the monitors as trum- 
peters before them ? Are any of these practices consistent 
with the principles of Christianity .'' Is there even one 
among them, which is not directly reprobated by our 
Lord, in express terms, or else opposed to the whole tenor 
of revelation ? And if they are to be condemned indivi- 
dually, how much more, when taken together as a system ! 
With such a view of the case before us, it is by no means 
gratifying to hear, from the report of the society, that the 
system is making rapid progress in this kingdom, as well as 
abroad : it is to be wished rather, that it might fail every- 
where. It will not avail to say, that order must be en- 
forced in schools, before anv thing else can be done ; that 



COMMON PLEAS FOR BAD SYSTEMS. I7I 

these are merely the means of insuring that order, which 
could not otherwise be obtained, and that it is intended 
to superadd the moral and religious education, to which, it 
is admitted, those means have not an immediate tendency. 
In a temple devoted to the undefiled worship of the living 
God, it will not do to have the devil as door-keeper ; and so 
it is incongruous, that, in a school, which aims at moral and 
religious cultivation, order should be obtained by immoral 
and irreligious means. Another plea, and a very common 
one, is, that it is impossible, always to do things in the very 
best way, and that it is better to do something, though it 
be not the most perfect thing that might be done, than to 
do nothing at all. This fallacy, by which so much evil is 
upheld in the world, to be exposed in all its perversity, 
requires only to be translated into plain speech. Seeing 
that we cannot serve God perfectly, let us serve the devil 
a little ! Who would dare to assert such a principle ? 
And yet this is the principle, upon which men always 
take their stand, when bad practices are exposed, when 
improvements are proposed to them. I know that it is 
impossible for man, to act up to the full standard of 
right principles, but is he, therefore, to abandon those 
right principles altogether, and to act systematically upon 
bad principles ? I grant that the latter may be more 
gratifying to his vanity, as he can, in this case, carry 
through his system ; whereas, in the other case, he has the 
constant humiliation of finding his principles better than 
himself. Let those who hate the idea of pure principles 
in education, who get rid of them^ by saying, " it sounds 
all very well in theory, but it is bad in practice," — let them 
search their hearts thoroughly, whether there be not some 
such hidden feeling of pride at the bottom of their reluc- 
tance, to adopt, as a rule, for practical purposes, what they 
cannot but approve of, as a matter of doctrine. To ac- 
knowledge right principles, when they are opposed to our 
practice, or to our habitual feelings, or long received 
and long professed opinions, requires a great self-denials 



172 THE INFA"NT SYSTEM. 

But it is this very self-denial, which God requires at our 
hands, as a sacrifice of our hearts to him, and therefore 
why should we refuse it ? Or, if we profess our readiness 
to bring this sacrifice, concerning some matters, why should 
we refuse it in others ? And why, especially in one which 
involves the moral and spiritual welfare of so many of our 
feUow creatures, and, consequently, for ourselves, an im- 
mense weight of responsibility ? 

No ! let it no longer be said, because we are afraid of 
encountering great obstacles and difficulties, in ourselves 
and in others, in the endeavour to direct children by pure 
and Christian motives, that, therefore, we give up the prin- 
ciple of purity of heart altogether, and content ourselves to 
rule over them by spurious, by anti-christian motives ! 
Let not such profanation be committed by those, who are 
anxious to bear a pure testimony to the Christian's faith, to 
its internal power, to its spirituality. Solemnly, because in 
the name of Christ, do I call upon all those among the 
managers and supporters of the British system, whose 
object is not, education in the spirit and for the purposes 
of this world, but education in the spirit and for the pur- 
poses of Christ, to exert all their influence for a funda- 
mental reform of the system, that their society, which 
is, at present, I say it unhesitatingly, a great engine of evil, 
may be turned into as great an engine of good. 

But it is time that I should bring this subject to a close, 
by briefly adverting to the Infant system, as the last of 
the three " improved systems," of recent origin, intro- 
duced with a view to the better education of the poorer 
classes of this country. Whence that system came, is 
a question enveloped in considerable mystery ; for, if 
common report be correct, it would seem as if the child 
had degenerated, and its real fathers would not avow it any 
longer. However that may be, it is certain that the 
original design of the Infant system has been entirely per- 
verted; and that, as a natural consequence of this, the 
system itself has undergone considerable alterations. The 



ITS ORIGINAL PURPOSE. 173 

first idea, if I am correctly informed, was to collect those 
children, who were below the grasp of the other systems, 
and to endeavour, at the very tenderest age, to awaken 
them to a life of love and intelligence. Positive instruc- 
tion was not made an object of, but merely considered as a 
means for the attainment of that higher object, the de- 
velopment of the soul in the true life. With this view, the 
first Infant Schools were founded, and it seemed as if, from 
the mouths of babes, the public would receive evidence, to 
convince them of the errors of long cherished prejudices. 
But, as it is written, " Though thou shouldest bray a fool 
in a mortar among wheat, with a pestle, yet will not his 
foolishness depart from him, " so did it prove to be the 
case with the prejudices of the public. Infant Schools, 
indeed, became the fashion ; for there was a something in 
them to win the feelings, which has since very much worn 
off, but which, then, was in all its freshness, and made con- 
verts by hundreds. But the consequence of this was, not 
that the public adopted the principles of the new system, 
but that they grafted in upon it their old prejudices, their 
sectarian sympathies and antipathies, and all their paltry 
party feelings and interests. Originally, the Infant Schools 
were calculated to show, what could be done by appealing 
to a principle of love in the child, which would subdue the 
wrath of its nature, and to a principle of truth, which 
would enlighten its darkness ; and thereby eventually to 
subvert those systems in which, as we have seen, the evil 
tendencies of our nature are made the levers of education. 
This was no sooner discovered, than a stir was made, for 
the purpose of suppressing the rising opposition in its very 
germ. A society was formed, which, under the pretence 
of advocating the Infant system, succeeded in gradually 
commuting it into the very reverse of what it was originally 
meant to be, and which, after having accomplished so 
praiseworthy an object, has at length absconded, by a sort 
of mystification, in a stationer"'s shop. But although the 
agents have vanished, the baneful effects of their labours 



174 ALMOST UNIVERSALLY LOST SIGHT OF. 

have remained. The Infant Schools are now no more than 
preparatory for the Lancasterian and the National Schools, 
especially the latter, which had most to dread from the 
rising system, and whose influence, therefore, was most 
powerfully exerted in defeating its success. The ma- 
chinery of those two systems has found its way into the 
Infant Schools, and has made them, with rare exceptions, 
mere miniature pictures of the others. You see the little 
monitors spelling, with their classes, over the A, B, C, and 
a variety of lesson tables without sense and meaning ; you 
hear them say, by rote, the multiplication table, the pence 
table, and so on. The same things are repeated over and 
over again, so that a parrot, hung vip for some time in one 
of those schools, would unquestionably make as good an 
Infant School Mistress as any. There is hardly one of 
the means introduced at the beginning, which has not 
been turned to a bad purpose. Thus, for instance, among 
other , things, sets of geometrical figures and bodies, cut 
out of wood, were used, for the purpose of questioning 
the children respecting the number and proportion of their 
angles, sides, &c ; but instead of making them the means 
of intellectual exercises, in which the children would be led 
every day to make new discoveries, and to think for them- 
selves, those figures are now pulled out, chiefly in the pre- 
sence of visitors, and then the whole school bawls out 
together, " This is a pentagon — this is a hexagon — this is 
an octagon, and so on.'* One of the most pleasing fea- 
tures of the Infant system, in its origin, was the social 
feeling, the cordiality, and cheerfulness of the little com- 
pany, which was greatly promoted by some short and easy 
tunes, to which occasionally some infantine words were 
sung. The efi*ect which this had, in soothing the irritation 
of some, moderating the violence of others, and arousing 
the dull ones into life, was truly wonderful ; but no sooner 
was the discovery made, that there was, so early in life, a 
way to man's heart and mind by singing, than the ma- 
chinists of education availed themselves of this fact, for the 



SYSTEMATIC NONSENSE. 175 

purpose of conveying to the memory some of their dead 
stock, which would not otherwise have found its way there 
so easily; and, presently, the multiplication, and other 
ciphering tables, the pence table, avoirdupois weight, and 
more of the like kind, were set to music, and occasionally bet- 
ter fitted for the infantine taste, at least so it was supposed, 
by the addition of the most silly rhymes. What intel- 
lectual or moral eifect, I should like to know, can be 
anticipated from a child learning such a verse as this : — 

" Forty pence are three and four pence, 

A pretty sum, or I'm mistaken ; 
Fifty pence are four and two pence, 

Which will buy five pounds of bacon ;" 

Or, still more vulgar, in the song about the cow : — ■ 

" And when she's dead, her flesh is good. 
For beef is our true English food ; 
But though 'twill make us brave and strong, 
To eat too much, we know, is wrong." 

In one Infant School, I have known the children to be 
made to laugh, or to cry, or to look happy, or unhappy, or 
kind, or angry, at the master's command ; in another school, 
in which the picture of a farm-yard was hung up on the wall, 
the master assured me that he was expressly enjoined by 
his committee, to ask the children for Scripture references 
to every object represented in that picture. Thus, when he 
pointed to a cow, the children were to quote him chapter 
and verse of those passages in Scripture, in which a cow 
was mentioned ; the same with the sheaves, the clouds, and 
whatever else the picture contained ; this was considered, 
by the committee, as an excellent method of connecting 
religious instruction with all other subjects. To enume- 
rate all the nonsense that has been practised, and is still 
practised, in this manner, would be an endless task ; but 
what has most effectually contributed to the ruin of the 
Infant system is the manner of propagating it. The re- 



176 GETTING UP AN INFANT SCHOOL. 

nown of the system penetrates into some country place, 
or into some district of a large town, and some persons 
take it into their heads, upon hearing what excellent things 
the Infant Schools are, that they too will have an Infant 
School. They then go in search of a place, and find out 
some old barn, or coach-house, which, with a few altera- 
tions, can be turned into a school-room. So far all is 
right ; for it is better that a good school should be in 
a wretched place, than, as we so often see it before 
our eyes in the metropolis, that a wretched school 
should be in a splendid place. But the great difficulty 
arises in the choice of the future master or mistress. Each 
of the originators and patrons of the proposed institution, 
has some client in view, whom he has nominated in his 
heart. A poor fellow, a tailor, a shoe-maker, or a fiddler 
by trade, who is not prosperous in the exercise of his call- 
ing, has the suffrage of the most active member of the 
committee ; or an old dame', whose school would suffer 
by the opposition of the new system, is patronized by some 
charitable ladies ; or the richest contributor has an old ser- 
vant, whom she wants to put into a snug place ; a 
struggle arises between these contending interests, the 
result of which is, that the client of the most influential 
party is selected for the situation, although, perhaps, the 
most unfit of all the candidates. The next question then 
is, how the new master or mistress is to learn the system, 
of which they must be presumed to be entirely ignorant. 
Some friend, perhaps, advises the committee to send the 
teacher to London, or some other place, for three months, 
and have him regularly trained under a good Infant School 
master. In vain ! they cannot wait so long, it will pro- 
tract the business, and the zeal of the good people in the 
town might get cool in the mean time. The Infant School 
must be opened in a fortnight or three weeks for the 
latest, and this is consequently all the time that can be 
permitted to the newly chosen master for his preparation. 
The question of time being settled, another arises : to what 



CATCHING THE SYSTEM. 177 

place is he to be sient ? The expense of sending him up to 
London, or to some other place of note, is found too great, 
particularly for so short a time, and it seems, therefore, 
better that he should be sent the least distance possible, to 
the nearest Infant School, to " catch" the system. But sup- 
pose even he come to London, or to Exeter, or Bristol, 
to one of the best schools that are, what can he learn in so 
short a time ? What strikes him chiefly, is the singing of 
the tables, the distribution in classes, the marching round 
the room, the clapping of hands, and all the other machi- 
nery. This he catches as well as he can, and back he 
goes, and opens his school, and his chief endeavour is to 
follow the system which he has caught, as closely as he 
can. And what can be expected after this ? What else, 
but that the Infant School should become a treadmill for 
the minds of the poor children ! 

Such has been the history of the Infant system ; it has 
been misapprehended by prejudice and narrow-mindedness, 
and perverted by bigotry and false zeal, so much so, that 
those who were its warmest advocates, are tempted to wish 
that never so much as one Infant School had been established 
in the country. 

I have had a sad picture to lay before you, when speak- 
ing of the neglect of education, and of the numbers of 
children who are left without any instruction at all ; but 
no less sad is the picture of the present state of our Charity 
Schools. All the evils under which society at large 
labours, are, as it were, concentrated upon this point, — as if 
to destroy the very vitals of the nation. The universal 
motive is money-getting ; the means are all devised upon 
the analogy of large manufactures, carried on by mecha- 
nical power ; and, to make the measure of evil full, the 
cloak of it all is a dead profession of the gospel. The prin- 
ciple of mammon is recognized as the life of education ; the 
existence of mental and moral powers is set aside ; and the 
spirit of religion is supplanted by the letter. Such is the 

N 



178 CONCLUSION. 

general character of the education which is imparted to 
the poorer classes of this country, whatever may be the 
name of the system, under which it is done. I leave you 
to judge, what must become of the nation ! 



179 



LECTURE VI. 



WHAT ARE THE CHIEF ERRORS COMMITTED IN THE EDU- 
CATION OF THE WEALTHIER CLASSES, AND BY WHAT 
MEANS CAN THE EDUCATION OF BOTH POOR AND RICH 
BE MADE TO PRODUCE, IN THE COURSE OF TIME, A 
MORE HARMONIOUS STATE OF SOCIETY. 



There is, as we have seen, much narrowmindedness, and 
much false principle, prevailing in the education of the 
poor ; but I fear that the children of the rich fare no 
better ; that, on the contrary, their education is more per- 
verse in proportion to the greater affluence of means, — 
means which, as the parents look upon them as their own, 
so they employ them for the accomplishment of their own 
purposes. They consider even the children themselves as 
their property, and with this inveterate view of their rights, 
and the little clearness they have on the subject of their 
duties, it is not at all to be wondered at, that they sin con- 
tinually against nature, that is to say, against the will of 
God concerning the child. The vices and prejudices of 
the wealthier classes are, though outwardly less apparent, 
yet on that account neither less deeply rooted, nor less 

n2 



180 MOXEY RULES OVER PRINCIPLE. 

numerous, and, as regai'ds education, they bear upon it 
with much greater force than is the case with the poor. 
The poor child is exposed to much bad example, and 
accustomed to many evil practices and bad feelings, in the 
company of his parents ; but many of them, so far from 
being sanctioned by the schoolmaster, are, on the contrary, 
objects of his reproof, whilst the teacher of rich children, 
from obvious reasons, vies with the father in all the false 
tastes, the prejudiced notions, the refined vices, of the 
respectable part of the community. For I beg it to be 
recollected that, by vice, we are not to understand merely 
the habitual gratification of some sensual appetite, but, in 
general, all the habits of self-gratification, mental and 
moral as well as sensual, by wliich we are enslaved. And 
how many are they ! 

But, many as they are, there is not one of them which is 
not admitted, nay, called in, purposely, to a large share of 
influence in education, according to the degree of its promi- 
nence in those classes of society to which the children 
belong. Hence there are not, in the education of the rich, 
as in that of the poor, a few leading systems ; but as many 
as there are shades of character in different parties, in diffe- 
rent ranks, and different avocations, so many are there 
different systems of education for the children of those who 
can, by virtue of their purs^, command the principles, on 
which their children are to be brought up. The only 
schools for the wealthier classes in this country, Avhich are 
independent of the control of the parents, are those imme- 
diately governed by the Establishment, that is to say, the 
Universities, and Collegiate Schools. Their subalterns, 
the grammar schools, are already obliged to be obedient to 
the word of a father, and to gain credit and support by 
eyeservice to the parents. The same is the case with the 
few public institutions, founded by various dissenting 
denominations, either in a body, or by subscription among 
their members. On the approbation of the public, whose 
opinion is materially influenced by that of the parents, the 



SCHOOLMASTEKS THE SLAVES OF PARENTS. 181 

very existence of those schools depends ; and it is, there- 
fore, not to be expected of them, that they will make a 
stand against public prejudices. And as regards, lastly, 
the common run of day and boarding-schools, it is well 
known that they are as much, as any shopkeepers, obliged 
to gratify the tastes, and satisfy the wishes, of their cus- 
tomers ; and that, even if some establishments have risen 
into such popularity, as to render it truly difficult to 
insure places in them, this enables them no more to resist 
and combat the prevailing prejudices, than the most fash- 
ionable shop in the metropolis has it in its power, to abolish 
all the fanciful fashions, and to introduce a plain and 
simple dress. Their high popularity is founded upon the 
opinion, that by them the public taste will be gratified more 
than anywhere else ; but let it, for a moment, be suspected 
that there is a design radically to reform that taste, or 
merely to correct and purify it, and all the popularity will 
be gone in an instant. Nowhere is there a more extensive 
application made of the maxim, " Mundus viilt decipi, 
ergo decipiatur ,''' that is to say, in education : The 
vanity and folly of the parents will be flattered, therefore 
let us flatter them. And although the weakness of the 
parents, and the servility of schoolmasters, has been fully 
explored, and although they heartily despise one another, 
yet the practical language of a father, when putting his 
child to school, is still : " I want to be deceived, — I want to 
be flattered ;" and the schoolmaster's answer is no less, 
" You may rely upon it, it shall be done, in general matters, 
on the usual terms, and in special matters, at so much 
extra." 

But although there are great diff*erences in the position, 
in which the various institutions stand to the parents, yet, 
as regards the children, it is to be feared, that the leading 
features of their education are much the same everywhere. 
I say, the leading features ; there are abuses in one place, 
which do not exist in another ; one is more accessible than 
the other to the so styled improvements of the age ; but 



182 AMBITION A SANCTIONED PRINCIPLE. 

with all this, the ruling principles of society, are the ruling 
principles in them all ; and hence it is that, in spite of the 
diversity of creeds, of feelings, and of interests, they have 
their leading features all in common. 

WTiere, for instance, is the school in this country, 
from which the principle of ambition is banished ? From 
the aristocratic seats of learning, where the fellow-com- 
moner, with the gold laced coat, is publicly acknowledged 
to be above the law, to which his humbler fellow-student 
must submit, down to the lowest description of " Classical 
and Commercial Academies," and " Boarding-schools for 
Young Gentlemen," the principle of ambition is used as a 
stimulus for the performance of what is in each place called 
duty, and is, in numberless exhortations, enlarged upon, 
as the noblest feeling of the human breast, as the master 
key to wealth and power, to honour and immortality of 
name. The head of a college will tell the young duke that, 
without ambition, no great statesman was ever formed ; 
and so does the commercial schoolmaster tell his boys, 
that never a man got on in business, who had no ambition 
in his soul. But whilst they thus all talk of ambition, 
none of them ever takes it into his head, to ask himself 
the plain question — which, as Christians, they are bound 
to ask concerning every thing, — the question, whether it be 
of God, or of the world. For, if it be of God, it is proper 
that it should not be desecrated, by being turned into a 
means for the attainment of success in business, or of 
political grandeur ; and if it be of the world, it is meet 
that they should teach their pupils to keep themselves 
unspotted from it. That selfish spirit, however, which 
presides over our education, only asks what is likely to 
be conducive to comfort or gratification ; and, spurning the 
idea of having recourse to first principles, it takes am- 
bition as a fact, a phenomenon, of our moral existence, 
which, as it proves to be a good tool for a variety of 
purposes, has thereby given satisfactory evidence of its 
intrinsic value. And shall this evidence be deemed satis- 



ITS TRUE N^ATURE EXAMINED. 183 

factory for ever ? Shall it never be inquired, whether 
the feeling which we thus cultivate in our children, as the 
mainspring of their actions, is, or is not, consistent with 
the Christian character ? Surely it is time, that such an 
inquiry should be instituted, after we have gone on in 
Pagan blindness for centuries. 

Ambition, when closely examined, seems to me to be no- 
thing else, but an excrescence of emulation : it is the wish to 
attain an eminence over others ; in business, or in politics, 
behind the counter, or in the pulpit — wherever it be, it is the 
wish to excel, to be the greatest among many. That this 
wish is anti-christian, is as clear as that Christianity is a doc- 
trine of humility and of brotherly love ; and it only remains 
for us to examine, what difference there is between this 
ambition, and the emulation of charity schools. I have 
remarked before, that the vices by which the wealthier 
classes are corrupted, are essentially the same as those by 
which the education of the poor is blasted ; the only dif- 
ference being, that, in the schools for the rich, there is 
greater scope for the operation of every bad principle. Of 
the truth of that remark, the present subject affords a 
striking illustration ; for, whilst it is quite plain, that as far 
as the principle is concerned, namely, the desire of excelling 
others, ambition and emulation are one and the same thing ; 
it appears, that in the schools for the poor, that bad 
feeling is confined to the moment when it is excited, or, 
until the reward is given, and, at all events, never reaches 
beyond the time of education, or even beyond school hours ; 
whereas the principle of ambition, which is inculcated by 
word and practice in the schools for the rich, connects the 
boyish strife for superiority with all the prospects of after 
life, and throws the value of a whole existence into the 
balance against humility and charity. It is no light 
matter to think, that every exertion of a young man has 
for its motive the exaltation of his own self, that all his 
thoughts and feelings, all the tendencies of his being, are 
concentrated upon this one object ; that he considers his 



184 THE CAREER OF HONOUR. 

instructors, his parents, and all that are concerned in his 
welfare, merely as the pedestal, on which his own statue is 
to be erected ; that he looks with an eye of envy and sus- 
picion upon his fellow pupils, whose excellency, so far 
from being to him an object of delight, on the contrary^ 
fills him with apprehension, lest they might increase the 
difficulties of his struggle, and lessen his chance of success ; 
that he anticipates, with impatience, the moment, when he 
shall be allowed to sally forth into the world, and to pur- 
sue in it the objects of his ambition with all his power ; 
and that, so far from considering himself the servant of 
Christ, and, for Christ's sake, the servant of all men, he 
values society, nay, the church of Christ itself, only as a 
means for the more full gratification of his selfish appetite 
•for vain glory. And if it is deplorable to think, that one 
young man should have so systematically made himself his 
own idol, how much more afflicting is the idea, that a 
whole nation is guilty of this idolatry ; and that it is the 
great object of education, to propagate ihat spirit from 
generation to generation ! After having been educated in 
this manner, with a constant reference to their own honour, 
is it to be wondered at, that our public men speak of the 
pursuits of ambition in a way, as if they were to be num- 
bered amongst the most lawful and the most praiseworthy 
lexertions ; that, so far from being ashamed to harbour 
such a feeling in their breast, they allege the motives 
derived from it, in their justification, when their conduct is 
impeached. And, vice versa, with such a tone prevailing 
throughout society, is it to be wondered at, that no reform 
is attempted, nay, even thought of, on this point, in educa- 
tion .'' But, it shall not remain so for ever. There was a 
time, when the principles and laws of duelling were held 
in as general estimation, as the maxims of ambition are 
now ; but a time came, when the true nature of that prac- 
tice was explored, — when, in the estimation of a large ma- 
jority, at least, an affair of honour began to be classed 
together with an attempt at murder; and so, likewise, the 



BRITISH FREEDOM OF OPINION. 185 

time will arrive, when the service of ambition will be un- 
equivocally condemned, as a service of the devil, as an 
idolatry of self ; and when our age will, on account of its 
gross violation of the spirit of Christianity, in this parti- 
cular, be termed an irreligious age, even as we bestow the 
appellation " barbarous'" upon those ages, in which the 
practice of duelling was universally sanctioned. 

Another great vice, which prevails throughout the higher 
classes of society, and which consequently exercises its 
baneful influence upon their education, is party spirit, 
that is to say, the bigoted adherence to the notions and 
feelings, entertained and professed by some party or other. 
On this subject a great truth has been spoken on a late oc- 
casion, which, as it proceeded from a quarter where the na- 
ture of bigotry is, no doubt, perfectly understood, carries 
with it a considerable weight of authority. It was said, 
with no less correctness than spite, that there is a bigotry 
of liberality, as well as a bigotry of illiberality. The truth 
is, that the bigotry consists, not so much in the nature of 
the opinions which are entertained, as in the slavish spirit 
with which we adhere to them, not because we are convin- 
ced of their truth, but because they happen to be the pecu- 
liar principles of that set of men, or of that system of society, 
to whose support we consider ourselves irrevocably pledg- 
ed. One of the most invaluable privileges of this country 
is British freedom, and especially the freedom of opi- 
nion ; but it is a sad use, or rather abuse, of this freedom, 
that men should render themselves the slaves of party 
views. No one will deny that a man addicted to drunken- 
ness has lost his moral freedom, although it carmot be de- 
nied, that his abandoning himself to that vice, was an act 
of his moral freedom ; and so, likewise, a man cannot be 
considered as enjoying and exercising the freedom of opi- 
nion, if he pledge himself irrevocably, to advocate and pro- 
pagate a certain set of opinions, although his pledging him- 
self thus were an act of the most perfect freedom, and 
though he lived under the freest constitution in the world. 



186 



THE TRUE STANDARD OBLITERATED. 



The consequence of this voluntary slavery of opmion is, 
that gradually the real distinctions between right and 
wrong, the absolute criteria of truth and error, of morality 
and immorality, are entirely lost sight of by the mass, and 
that, instead of the original standard of judgment, which 
is one of life, planted as the voice of God in the heart of 
man, a sort of conventional tariff is introduced, which, as 
it has nothing to do with the true purpose of man's life, 
so it can only serve to entangle him more effectually in the 
pursuit of false purposes, and to render him more and more 
blind to what his real condition requires of him. The 
question is no longer : Is this or that line of conduct, this 
or that mode of thinking and feeling, consistent with those 
principles and laws, which God has laid down for the go- 
vernment of man ? is it in itself right or wrong, Christian 
or unchristian ? but : is it generally approved or disapprov- 
ed of ? or, is it consistent with the views of such and such a 
party, or with the fundamental principles of this or that 
system ? The churchman asks not : Is such a view of the 
subject, or such a mode of proceeding, accordant with, or 
agreeable to, the principles laid down by Jesus Christ ? 
His question is and must be : Is it, or is it not, in confor- 
mity with the fundamental articles of the Church of Eng- 
land doctrine and discipline ? Is it, or is it not, in accord- 
ance with the received opinions, the usages, and interests 
of the Establishment ? In vain, that you demonstrate to 
him, that such or such an opinion or practice is not only con- 
sistent with Christian principles, but indispensably required 
by them, as a practical proof of faith in, and obedience to 
Christ —if it be opposed to, or even merely an innovation 
upon, that which is received in the Church, his choice is 
decided ; he cannot embrace it or adopt it, without a vio- 
lation of his pledged duty to the Establishment, from which 
to deviate is, according to the prejudiced notions, with 
which his education has filled him, equivalent to departing 
altogether from the profession of the Christian faith. And 
let it not be supposed, that this bondage to the " traditions 



TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS. 187 

of the elders," is confined to the Establishment ; it exists 
M'ith equal strength among other parties, both religious and 
not religious. To instance, among all the religious deno- 
minations, that which pays, in doctrine at least, the greatest 
deference to internal evidences, and in which the greatest 
degree of freedom of opinion ought, on this account, to be 
met with, I mean the Society of Friends : what are the 
chief considerations which determine the conduct, not of 
distinguished individuals among them, for they are free 
among all parties— but of the great mass, both as regards 
the most important and the most trivial matters ? What is 
the first question that occurs to the mind ? Is it an inquiry 
into the intrinsic merits of the case, independently of all 
regard for received opinions, merely on the ground of 
gospel principles, as illustrated in the mind of each indi- 
vidual by the spirit of truth ? or is it the mere question 
of fact : "What is most consistent with the principles and 
the practice of the Society ?" And is not a departure from 
those principles, or from that practice, even in matters 
which are professedly mere matters of outward observa- 
tion, by which the kingdom of heaven cannot come, con- 
sidered, by the majority, as a departure from pure gospel 
principles ? And what is true, in this respect, of wnat I 
take to be the two extremes, in this country, of outward and 
inward Christianity, is equally applicable to all the inter- 
mediate denominations of Christians ; they are all observ- 
ing the traditions of their elders, by which many things 
are enjoined, which the gospel leaves free, and many 
things permitted afld justified, which are prohibited or 
reprobated in the gospel — even as it was with the tradi- 
tions of the elders of the Jewish Church. 

It is true, that there is a sort of toleration exercised by 
different denominations towards each other ; Friends, for 
instance, will, in members of other denominations, excuse 
that, which they do not tolerate in each other ; and so, 
likewise, is there among Churchmen, at least among the 
better part of them, a willingness to make allowance for 



188 CANT-TOLERATION. 

differences of opinion and of practice, in those which are 
without the pale of the estabhshment. This toleration, 
however, is nothing but, as it were, a truce between belli- 
gerent powers, similar to that established, by the law of 
nations, between the civilized states of the world, which, 
although in the principle of their constitution rivalling 
with, and opposed to, each other, nevertheless acknow- 
ledge each other to a certain extent, and make to each 
other such concessions, as the mutual intercourse between 
them renders absolutely necessary. In the former as in the 
latter case, the mutual acknowledgment and toleration is 
not the result of the principle of Christian brotherhood 
and fellowship, but of the selfish calculation, that the 
security and prosperity of the interests of each party, re- 
quire such concessions to be made to the others. They 
say, in fact, to each other : — " We wish every one of us to 
" be undisturbed in the pursuit of his own end, by his 
" own means ; and we, therefore, mutually agree not to 
" interfere with each other, by an endeavour to unite all 
" in the pursuit of the universal end, by universal means." 
Such a mutual compact is better — and who is there, that 
would deny it — than the " holy office," the torture and 
the faggot ; it is better too — although some would call it 
into question — than penal statutes, civil and political dis- 
abilities, on the ground of religious opinions ; but though 
it may be better than any thing we have as yet had, is it 
on that account all that could be desired, all that, as a 
Christian nation, we ought to have ? Does not the mutual 
compact, of allowing one another to pursue our several 
ends, undisturbed by each other, involve a compromise of 
principle, which is inconsistent with the Christian name ? 
A great outcry has lately been raised, that " the Nation 
has cast off her God ;" that " Christianity has been aban- 
doned for expediency ;" and what other phrases of a like 
high sounding description, a histrionical pulpit oratory has 
invented, and a host of hollow-brained hearers — servum 
imitatorum pecus — has repeated to disgust. But although 



POLITICAL INTOLEllANCE ANTI-CHRISTIAN. 189 

the outrageous nonsense of doctrine, with which those de- 
clamations were coupled, and the intolerable conceit of the 
leading men of that party, renders all that they propound 
exceedingly unpalatable to the humble and intelligent part 
of the Christian public, yet it does not seem quite fair, on 
the other hand, that their opinions should be condemned 
in a lump, and without examination. Be the men Avhat 
they may, the charge which they bring is too serious to be 
slighted. It is certainly a point deserving the most careful 
examination, and, on this very account, a far less impas- 
sioned and prejudiced one, than was instituted by those 
who bring the charge — whether the principles laid down 
for the regulation of society are consistent with, or opposed 
to, the principles of Chrisfs religion, and of his church. In 
the simplicity of the gospel, it seems to me, that nothing is 
easier than to answer the different questions, into which 
that inquiry resolves itself. If we ask, in the first instance : 
" Are the disciples of Christ to take any worldly power 
" to themselves, or from others, in his name and for his 
*' sake f the answer which the gospel returns is : — " No ; 
" because Chrisfs Kingdom is not of this world, nor ever 
" will be, until Christ take all the power to himself at his 
" second coming.'''' If we ask, secondly : — " Are the disci- 
" pies of Christ to remain indifferent to the religious 
" belief, and, much more, to the religious state of their 
^^ fellow creatures, and especially of those, who are knit 
" together with them in one outward society V the answer 
of the Gospel is again : — " No ! because Christ has de- 
" dared, that ' he that is not with him, is against him.''"''' 
What, then, is the conclusion to be drawn from these pre- 
mises, when applied to the present state of this nation. If it 
be asked, whether it is, or was, consistent with Christianity, 
to make the profession of a certain sort of Christianity, 
nay of Christianity itself, independent of all distinctions 
among its professors, the condition of the enjoyment of 
certain privileges, or of the possession of worldly power, 
the answer must decidedly be in the negative. If it 



190 ERROR NOT TO BE TOLERATED. ' 

be asked, on the other hand, whether it be, or be not, 
consistent with Christianity, that a mutual compact 
be entered into by the diiFerent parties, to leave, nay to 
maintain each other undisturbed, in the enjoyment of their 
respective prejudices, and in the pursuit of their party 
interests, the answer must be equally decided in the nega- 
tive. What, then, is to be done ? The breaking down of 
all worldly privileges is to be hailed, inasmuch as it put a 
stop to an unchristian practice ; and care is to be taken 
that, in this new position of things, the positive duties of 
Christianity should be fulfilled. From the moment, there- 
fore, that the legislature did that act of reverence to reli- 
gion — whether it was intended so, or not, matters not 
now— by which the desecration of Christianity, as a pretext 
for the exclusive possession of worldly power was abolished, 
from the moment that it cancelled all civil and political in- 
tolerance from the statute book — from that moment ought 
to be erased and eradicated from the public mind, that 
ungodly and hypocritical toleration of opinions, which is 
founded upon an utter indifference to truth, and upon the 
pagan presumption, that any thing which men choose to 
consider and to propound as truth, is, on that ground, to be 
respected. Let us hear no more of civil disabilities, of 
political differences, between persons of different opinions, 
on religious subjects— let that mistake of a half-chris- 
tianized civilization, be obliterated for ever — but, likewise, 
let us hear no more of that unprincipled toleration, which 
has profaned the name of charity by assuming it, seeing 
that it is nothing but a vile men-pleasing and eye-service, 
and that the principle, on which it rests, viz., that man has 
a right to believe and propagate as truth, what he chooses, 
is not of God, but of the wicked one. Instead of that 
false charity, let true charity be introduced — that charity 
which doeth violence to, and speaketh evil of, no one, on 
account of his religious belief, or non-belief — but which 
exerts itself to the utmost, to bring all men and all things 
unto one, even unto Christ. If this were, what men have in 



THE ERKING NOT TO BE PERSECUTED. 191 

view, and if faith were the weapon of their warfare, they 
would see, that they need neither political oppression, nor 
slander, to promote Christ's kingdom — they would see that, 
pretending to work for such an end by such means, is 
both absurd and blasphemous. They would then, also, 
perceive, that it is the spirit of true charity, which it 
becomes, at this period, imperative upon the nation at 
large, to follow in the regulation of that new state, which 
must arise out of the reparation of old sins and old 
wrongs ; not a spirit of compromise, but a spirit of faithful 
adherence to principle, and of unchangeable christian love. 
And what will that spirit prompt us to do ? Will it allow 
us any longer to compromise our differences ? No ! 
Instead of conceding to others, to pursue their own way, 
that we may, in return, be allowed to do the same — that 
spirit will prompt us to pursue for ourselves, and to 
invite others to pursue, that one and universal way, 
which leadeth unto life. But, are we to make no con- 
cessions then, to each other .^ Oh, yes, we are to make 
concessions, greater concessions than we ever have 
made — concessions which will cost us something, in- 
stead of concessions which did cost us nothing. We 
are to weigh diligently and conscientiously, every 
objection that is made by others, to the peculiarities 
of our respective parties, and all that Ave can give 
up, of our opinions and of our practices, without 
violating the principles of Christ, that we are to cofi- 
cede. This is the way, in true charity, to meet each 
other half way : not to say : "if you be wrong in some 
" things, I will not care, nor shall you care, if I am 
" wrong in others ;"" — this is the charity not of God, but of 
the devil ; — but to say : " in all things, in which you con- 
" sider me wrong, I will conform to you, provided I 
" can do so without violating the Gospel ; and, in the 
" same spirit, I call upon you to conform to me, in all 
" things that are lawful.'" How diiFerent these two to- 
lerations, these two modes of following after Christian 



192 CONCESSIONS OF GENUINE CHARITY. 

charity ! The former can only lead to endless confusion 
in Christ's nominal kingdom, to indiiference and infidelity, 
whereas the latter has a direct tendency to accelerate the 
approach of that period, when we shall " all come in the 
" unity of the faith^ and of the knowledge of the Son 
*' of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
*' stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth 
" be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried 
" about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of 
" men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to 
" deceive ; but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up 
" into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, 
" from whom the whole body, Jitly joined together, and 
*' compacted by that which every joint supplieth, accord- 
'' ing to the effectual working in the measure of every 
" party maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying 
*' of itself in love." Let any man try, by the standard 
of this charity, tending to the unity of faith, the opi- 
nions, practices, institutions, of his own religious deno- 
mination, and let him strike off, one by one, all those 
points, which he cannot plainly prove from the Gospel, 
that he has, not a right or a license, but a positive duty 
to insist on, and let him then see, what remains, as a 
ground for dissent. We have hitherto been accustomed 
to sketch out for ourselves such a mode and form of life, 
as is most agreeable to the peculiar feelings, nay weak- 
nesses, of each, and then to take the Gospel in hand, and 
to ask, how far we can, on the foundation of its doctrines, 
establish a right to indulge our darling notions and 
wishes. Hence it is that we have all, without the excep- 
tion of any single denomination of Christians, beginning 
from the apostate Catholic Church, and coming down to 
the Protestantism of Protestantism, wrested the word of 
truth, and taught for doctrines " the commandments of 
men ;" hence it is, that, among all parties, a variety of 
doctrines and practices have been deduced from detached 
passages of Scripture, which must be admitted to be 



INTOLERANCE SHOULD BEGIX AT HOME. 193 

lawful inductions from the texts quoted in their sup- 
port, upon the supposition, that man has a right to do, 
or to think, as he likes, provided he can make out, in a 
plausible manner, the conformity of his notions and of 
his conduct, to the letter of holy writ — but which, never- 
thelesSj are directly opposed to the Spirit of God's reve- 
lation, and M'ill appear to be so at once, upon acknow- 
ledgment of the principle, that man is to do as the 
Gospel positively and directly enjoins, and not to 
quibble out, what things, that are not positively com- 
manded, he may do without sinning against the letter of 
the law. This quibbling spirit was the characteristic 
feature, the corrupt principle of the traditions of the 
elders in the Jewish Church ; and I ask, whether it is not, 
in like manner, at the foundation of all those dead 
forms and selfish interests, which we have connected with 
the profession of our religion, and by which we have 
made the Gospel of Christ of none effect ? 

I have already, on another occasion, expressed my firm 
conviction, that education, in the spirit of Christ, that is 
to say, through faith in, and submission to, the indwelling 
life of the everlasting Word in the child, Avill be the great 
vehicle of an universal reform, on the eve of which we are all 
standing, whether we be unbelievers or believers, Jews or 
Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, Churchmen or Dissenters ; 
and I beg now to recal your attention to this point, not 
as to a mere matter of doctrine, or of prophetic conjec- 
ture, but as to a demonstrative proof of what is to be 
done in our time, in order to prepare mankind, and render 
them fit, for the days of the Son of Man. Is it not evi- 
dent that, until men do arrive at that intolerance against 
all narrowmindedness, especially in themselves and at 
that charity, indispensably connected with it, which I 
have before described, it is spiritually impossible that they 
should come to " the unity of the faith and of the know- 
ledge of the Son of God ?"" Is it not evident, likewise, that 

o 



194 KELIGION SWALLOWED UP BY SECTARIANISM. 

men will not come to that state of unprejudiced discern- 
ment of spiritual matters, of holy severity against all 
that stands in the way of the kingdom, and of yielding 
charity towards each other in all matters which are of 
the world, and not of the kingdom, unless they be edu- 
cated independently of the existing party views and feel- 
ings ? — And is it not, lastly, evident too, that it is impos- 
sible, especially for professors of Christianity, who value 
that which they profess, to educate their children inde- 
pendently of their own notions and impressions, unless, 
indeed, they educate them in dependance on Christ 
himself, to whom alone the Jew can yield up his unbe- 
lief, and the Gentile his half -belief ? 

Can there be any thing plainer, upon the admission of 
these points, which I think it rather difficult to deny, or 
get over in any way, than that the present sectarian edu- 
cation of all the Christian denominations, is, as much as 
infidelity and apostacy, obstructing, or, in Scripture lan- 
guage, doing " violence,'^'' to the hingdom of Heaven ? And 
if it is beyond doubt, as regards the workings and mani- 
festations of God, that they cannot be obstructed by man ; 
does it not follow, that the obstruction will ultimately fall, 
not upon the kingdom, which will come, even in spite of 
its enemies, but upon those men, who, in the blindness of 
their presumption, have done violence to it ? Who is he, 
that dare take upon himself the responsibility of the re- 
sult, which I fear will eventually take place, that, at the 
second coming of our Lord, his Gentile church will be 
equally unprepared to receive, equally decided to reject 
him, as his Jewish church was at his first coming ? The 
peril of this responsibility is at present hanging over all 
Christendom, and over every church individually, with 
a weight proportioned to the degree of light with which 
it has been blessed ; and the time is drawing near, when 
it will fall upon them heavily, unless, indeed, they repent, 
and turn from their sectarian interests, their vain forms, and 



THE WANT OF REFOHM UNIVERSALLY FELT. 195 

dead creeds, unto the living andind welling Spiritof the Lord, 
in whom is unity, liberty, and life everlasting. Here is a 
voice of warning, not a voice of vain and false prophecy, 
presuming to determine time and place, and other outward 
circumstances of events, of which it is expressly declared, 
that " the day and hour thereof no man knoweth, no, not 
the angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but tlie 
Father," — but a voice calling unto repentance, and unto 
the baptism of faith in the " true light, which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world." , In these days, 
in which so many false prophets are risen up, calling " lo 
here !" and " lo there !" and seeing for us, " vain and foolish 
things, false burdens, and causes of banishment," and there- 
fore '' not discovering" our true iniquity — a faithful wit- 
ness shall not be wanting to the word of truth, against the 
doctrinal unrighteousness of this generation — a witness not 
founded upon rabbinical interpretations and calculations, 
but upon a discernment of the spirits, in Avhich are the signs 
of the times — a witness directing the attention of men not 
to human establishments, but to the foundation that is laid 
from the beginning, and for ever, — not to human doctrines, 
but to the Spirit of truth, to Him who will lead those that 
believe in Him, into all truth — not to human agency, but 
to the power of Him by whom all things were made, and by 
whom things fallen will again be made perfect. He that 
hath ears to hear, let him hear ! 

Was there ever before an age, in which so many false 
projects of reform were started, in which such scandalous 
mock revivals of religion were acted ? And what does all 
this restless bustle of the radical infidel, and of the canting- 
professor prove, but that a reform, a revival, is urgently 
wanted ; though the spirit of it is not received, and the 
means of introducing it, are not understood. And yet a 
short glance over the pages of history, would acquaint us 
with the latter, whilst the former is distinctly pointed out 
to us in the testimonies of revelation. Two reforms have 
taken place, for which we have the authority of holy writ, 

o 2 



196 RETROSPECT OF PAST REFORMS. 

that they were true reforms, revivals of the Spirit of God 
in man ; viz., that of the Jewish nation, through Moses, and 
that of the human race by Jesus Christ, which was part ia 
at his first, and will be universal at his second coming. 
Now it is a remarkable fact, that education was the vehicle 
through which both these reforms took root in the life of 
mankind. That generation which Moses led forth from 
Egypt, was not permitted to see the land of Canaan ; it was 
a new generation, — that which was trained in the wilder- 
ness, under the law given with thunders and lightnings from 
Mount Sinai, — which God established as his own peculiar 
people in the land promised to their fathers. And so, 
likewise, at the first introduction of Christianity, it appears 
clearly, from the frequent rebukes which occur in the 
writings of the Apostles, that it was not in the first gene- 
ration, which had drank into the principles, and grown up 
in the practices, of corrupt Judaism or of paganism, that the 
pure doctrine and discipline of the gospel was established ; 
but that the perfection of the primitive Apostolical Church 
began with that generation, who had been baptized in the 
households of the first believers, and had imbibed Chris- 
tian principles, as it were, with the mother's milk. Does 
not this show that our Lord attached more than a mere 
allegorical meaning to his words, when he said : " Suffer 
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : for 
of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, 
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little 
child, shall in no wise enter therein T'' After two such 
weighty precedents, and after such a declaration from the 
lips of our Saviour, is it not meet, that whenever the want 
of another vital reform is felt, we should turn our eyes 
towards education, as the point from which its effectual 
influence upon the life of mankind is to begin ? There is, 
however, another consideration, which renders it still more 
essential, that we should in our age look to education as 
the point, in which the quickening influences of a better 
day, which is hastening on, will be concentrated ; namely, 



EDUCATION THE FOllERUNNEll OF A NEAV DAY. 197 

the character which the regeneration of society, now 
anticipated, must necessarily have. That human re- 
forms, political or religious, a new charter of the kingdom, 
or a new reformation of the outward church or churches, 
are inadequate to the cure of the evils, and the satisfaction of 
the wants, of the present age, no one, who has duly weighed 
either the former, or the latter, will, I presume, call in ques- 
tion. The reform must be a divine one, that is to say, it must 
be the effect of the divine principle of life, manifested in 
human existence, in a manner essentially new. What, 
then, is the reform, of this description, to which Ave are to 
look forward, upon the ground of the prophecies — not those 
from Albury and Sackville-street, but those from the hills 
of Zion, and from the Isle of Patmos .'* What is there 
declared to be the characteristic feature of the last great 
era of divine dispensations, which remains to be fulfilled ? 
" After those days, saith the Lord, / will put my law in 
their inward parts, and ivrite it in their hearts ; and 
will be their God, and they shall be my people. And 
they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every 
mail his brother, saying, know the Lord ! For they shall all 
know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, 
saith the Lord." Or, as it is expressed by another pro- 
phet : " All thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; 
and great shall be the peace of thy children." And, as it 
was declared unto John from Heaven : " Behold, the 
tabernacle of God is ivith men, a?id he will dwell with them, 
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with 
them, and be their God.'" Is it not evident from all this, 
that that last reform Avill be both, universal and ijidividual 
at the same time ? universal, inasmuch as it will embrace 
all men ; and individual, inasmuch as every one indivi- 
dually will partake of its effect, viz. : immediate and in-- 
ternal communication and union with God .'' All the pre- 
vious reforms, those operated by the Avill of God, as well 
as those effected by the will of man himself, though subject 
to the divine government, have been general reforms, and 



198 THE IMPENDING REFORM AN UNIVERSAL ONE. 

for this very reason none of them was either universal or 
individual. Thus, for instance, the restoration of the 
Jewish people from the Egyptian bondage to national in- 
dependence, and to the purpose of their election, was a 
divine reform, inasmuch as it was produced by the imme- 
diate and visible interference of God ; and it was a general 
one, inasmuch as it only concerned the Jews as a nation, 
and did not extend* to every individual Jew as such ; so 
much so, that the value of the whole dispensation was not 
diminished by the fact, that but a few individuals did 
approach, and one only did attain unto that state of passive 
instrumentality, and absolute obedience, which constituted 
the fundamental character of righteousness after the law. 
In the like manner, the next divine reform, viz. the intro- 
duction of Christianity, was a general one ; for, although 
it consisted in a proclamation of the covenant of the gospel 
unto all mankind, yet the spiritual realization of that 
covenant, could not be anticipated from the beginning, 
according to the tenor of the gospel itself, to take place 
otherwise than upon a few out of the mass. It is hardly 
necessary for me to add, that all the human reforms in 
religious matters, such as the Christianizing of the Roman 
Empire, or the different reformations of the church in dif- 
ferent nations and ages, were merely general, giving a new 
character to the mass, and a new form to its institutions, 
but leaving the characters of, by far, the greatest number 
of individuals unchanged. Not so the reform to which 
we are to look forward, and which will not only change 
the aspect of the whole mass, and all the forms of life, 
thus constituting " a new heaven and a new earth^'' but 
by which also every individual, as an individual, will be re- 
formed — so as to do away with all incongruity and discord, 
and to make all Jit memhers of one body. If there be, 
as I apprehend there is, a possibility for mankind, by 
the use of the means of grace imparted by the two former 
dispensations, to prepare themselves for the arrival of the 
third, which is approaching : is it not manifest, then, that 



UNFITNESS OF THE PRESENT GENERATION. 199 

the preparation must likewise be universal and individual, 
embracing all and every one, and that it can consist in 
nothing else than the education of every individual, in 
obedience to, and consciousness of Him, who is dwelling in 
all, as a source of light, and as a power of life ; that they 
may be both able and willing to acknowledge Him when 
he shall come " in the clouds of heaven, with power and 
great glory ?"" 

Such is the claim, which the Most High prefers against 
the men of this day ; its fulfilment would be bliss un- 
speakable ; its neglect will be the burden of this genera- 
tion, in the day of judgment. The greatest part of that 
burden will, no doubt, fall upon the religious world, who, 
by their sectarian bigotry, have not only made the word of 
God of none effect to themselves, but also have put a 
stumbling-block in the way of many of their brethren, 
who would not so easily have slighted and set aside reli- 
gion, had they seen it practically illustrated, not as a spe- 
cious cloak to cover inward uncleanness, but as a power of 
truth and love. But, although a candid advocate of reli- 
gion must admit the heavy sins, of which, in this respect, 
its professors are guilty, yet this fact is far from forming 
an excuse for those, who have taken upon themselves to 
turn away from that, which God has laid down for them, 
and which he has so clearly put before them. The bigotry 
of dogmatical men is, no doubt, a very great nuisance, not 
to speak of the sin ; but are liberal men less bigoted, or is 
their bigotry any better.? I, for my OAvn part, confess, 
that, much as I disapprove of the former, on the grounds 
which I have stated, I cannot help feeling, that there is 
more hope of a man who holds and defends an opinion, 
though a narrow, or even an erroneous one, with great 
warmth and obstinacy, than of a man who adheres, with an 
equally sectarian spirit, to the principle of having no opi- 
nion at all on the subject of religion. Owing, it may be, 
in a great measure, to the controversial spirit, and the ani- 
mosity of the religious world, a fashion has introduced 



200 THE HAZELWOOD KELIGION 

itself in society, which is too often sanctioned even by men 
who, in private, hold religion in high estimation, — the 
fashion, in public matters, to pass over religion altogether, 
as a non-entity, or, at least, a non-essential, or to treat it 
as a nose of wax, which can be shaped at pleasure, to suit 
the taste of each individual. This profane fashion, to 
which no person who sees the full value of religion, can, 
and no one that professes to know that value, ought to, give 
his assent, has, as much as the sectarianism of the believers, 
found its way into the field of education ; so that, whilst 
some teach for doctrines the commandments of men, there 
is another set, who teach, according to the peculiar wishes 
of the parents, any doctrines, or no doctrines at all. As 
an instance of this disgraceful indifference, this " gentle- 
manly" infidelity, I will adduce the profession of faith, on 
this chapter, of a celebrated school, or rather connexion of 
schools, which, as it has, among the recent system-makers 
for the education of the wealthier classes, the greatest run 
at present, ought not to be passed over without special 
notice on the present occasion. In the account of the 
" Plans for the government and liberal instruction of boys 
in large numbers, as practised at Hazelwood school," the 
subject of religion is dispatched in the following manner, 
in a note under the text :— " On the momentous subject 
" of religion, we feel we ought to say something, and yet 
" in common, we suppose, with all conscientious teachers, 
" whose pupils belong to different religious communities, we 
" have had great difficulty in ascertaining our duty on 
"this head. It is almost impossible to enter into any 
*' minute course of religious instruction, without entrench- 
" ing upon disputed ground, and yet we feel that no pa- 
^^ rents, concept such as. coincide with our own views, 
" can intend us to influence the religious opinions of 
" their children ; and we should, therefore, conceive such 
" influence to be a gross breach of trust. At the same 
" time, whatever religious exercises can be joined by all, 
" are not omitted. Whatever formularies, too, are in uni- 



MANUFACTURED TO ORDER. 201 

" son with the respective religious feelings of the pa- 
" rents, are taught ; and provision is made for attendance 
" on such public worship, as is best calculated to prevent 
" the evils, ivhich might arise from any dissimilarity of 
^^ religious views between the parent and his child.'''' 

Now, I should like to ask the Gentile, who penned these 
lines, full of hypocritical eye-service and inward infidelity, 
how he dare to call the subject of religion a " momentous" 
subject, when, in fact, his own words prove that he regards 
it as being of little or no moment ? I can conceive a 
teacher stating, coolly, in his prospectus, " Of whatever cut 
" a father wishes to have his boy's jacket made, we shall 
" make a point of getting our tailor to do it to his wishes." 
But that a man should as coolly say : — " Of whatever cut 
" a father wishes his boy's religion to be, we shall take 
" care to have it made to order," is exceedingly base, and 
betrays the spirit, both of an hireling, and of an infidel. But 
where is the point on which the whole matter hinges.-* 
He considers his pupils, I state his own words, as " belong- 
" ing to different religious commtmities.'''' But if he were 
not as ignorant of religioii, as he is indifferent, and affects 
to be anxious, about it, he would know, forsooth, that 
the7-e does not exist more than one religious community ; 
and that the different communities of which he speaks, 
are (the Apostle is my authority) carnal communities, 
and, so far as their differences go, irreligious communities, 
" because the carnal mind is enmity against God.'''' Of a 
piece with this mistake, is the other, that he must conform, 
in the religious education of his pupils, — not to the will of 
God, as made known to him by the Spirit of Truth, on the 
ground of the revelations extant in Christendom — b?xt to the 
wishes of the parents, who " cannot intend him to influ- 
*' ence the religious opinions of their children, except they 
*' coincide with his own views ;" which, I should suppose, 
will be the case with none, but such as care, in truth, no- 
thing for the religious opinions of their children. It is 7iot 
in the name of God, but in the name of the parents, that 



202 A MERE PHYLACTERY. 

he educates, a perfect man after the heart of the world. 
And why not ? Why should he not serve him, of whom 
he is hired ? He does not anticipate a heavenly reward 
for his education — and this is the only part of his creed 
which is correct — and, therefore, he does the will of him, 
from whom he gets his reward. Therefore, he is ex- 
tremely scrupulous about the supposed breach of trust, 
towards the sectarian spirit of the parents, whilst he cares 
not a whistle about that breach of trust which he commits 
against the Spirit of the Lord God. If this is not " like 
unto whited sepulchres, which, indeed, appear beautiful 
outward, but are, within, full of dead men's bones, and of 
all uncleanness,*" — I am at a loss to know what is ? Has 
he ever considered, that his office of a teacher is either a 
trust from the Lord, or that he has assumed it without 
authority, in a presumptuous spirit ? Never ! — But all 
this, which seems so unaccountable, easily explains itself, 
when we come to his idea of religion. The perfection of 
religious education, in his opinion, seems to be the entering 
into a minute course of religious instruction ; and this 
desirable object he gives up at once, owing to the great 
apprehension, under which this man of peace lives, lest he 
should " entrench upon disputed ground."" Of a living 
spirit of religion, who is one and all, and in all, and 
before whose holy countenance " the disputed grounds"" of 
religion will not stand, he knows nothing. With him, 
religion is a phylactery, which he engages to bind upon 
his boys, to make it broad, or narrow, as the fashion runs, 
and to cause it to be worn inside the garments, or outside, 
according as the father is, or is not, " ashamed of the 
Gospel of Christ." Hence it is, that he rests satisfied, as 
with a full discharge of his duty, with the " non-omission 
of religious exercises T and the inculcation of ^'■religious 
formularies. ''"' Would he submit to such interference with 
his instruction, in other branches ; for instance, would he 
teach mathematics upon any formularies prescribed to him 
by the parents ? Or is it in religion only, that he is so 



THE LONDON UNIVERSITY. 203 

easy ? The fact is, he is a cunning fox, who knows well 
that the height of inconsistency is the best Avay, in these 
days, to insure the credit of " a consistent character." He 
is willing to make himself all things to all men, that he 
may by all means get pupils. 

There is another institution, of recent origin, which, as it 
has put itself, not under a bushel, but on a candlestick — 
thouffh a candle not lighted — is not to be foro-otten on the 
present occasion — I mean the London University. Here 
we have the example of an institution, raised, in common, 
by the believing and the unbelieving world, a bastard child 
of religious profession and infidelity, in which the fashion- 
able notion of leaving religion out of the question, has been 
carried to the very pitch of perfection. In an institution 
which professes to impart, to young men, all the knowledge 
that is needful for them — (for what can the term Univer- 
sity mean, but a place where all knowledge is to be had, 
outwardly at least ?) — no arrangement whatever is made for 
imparting to them any religious knowledge, nor even any 
knowledge connected with religion. It is true, religion is 
not persecuted in it, — that would be far below the enlight- 
ened spirit which presides over it; — nay, it is even tole- 
rated, only it must, like the lepers among the Jews, " dwell 
without the camp." I am very far from recommending 
any official mode of enforcing religion, such, for instance, 
as the compulsory attendance on divinity lectures, and pub- 
lic worship, by which, in the Universities of the establish- 
ment, many a hypocrite is manufactured. I know that 
religion ceases to be what it is, when it is not embraced with 
freedom, and, therefore, I wish a young man, when arrived 
at years of discretion, to be left free, if he likes to with- 
draw himself from all religious instruction ; — but then I 
would have him, at least, equally free to place himself 
under it, if he feels disposed to do so. Now, it is the want 
of that equal freedom, on both sides, which I complain of, 
in the London University, where a young man, though 
left free to be an infidel, if he choose, has not a fair oppor- 



204 WHAT IT OUGHT NOT TO HAVE LETT UNDONE. 

tunity aiForded him to become a Christian ; inasmuch as 
the two chapels, privately opened by men belonging to the 
University, are devoted to two peculiar denominations only ; 
and as, by the absence of all means of religious instruction 
in the University itself, as such, a slight is thrown upon 
religion, which will not fail to have its effect upon the minds 
of the students, so far, at least, as to make them think, that 
the leading men of the institution, to whom they must, 
of course, be taught to look up with respect, do not v/ish or 
care for their becoming religious characters. Or, if they 
do care for it, wh}^, I would ask, did they not appoint 
chairs, for the different branches of instruction connected 
with religion, so as to promote the " spread of knowledge," 
on those subjects, as Avell as on others ? I am aware that 
religion itself cannot be imparted by instruction, but this 
does not prove that ignorance, on such points as are condu- 
cive to the better understanding of the records of revela- 
tion, is desirable. And, even as regards many points of 
doctrine, might not an enlightened investigation and dis- 
cussion of them, very much contribute to obliterate those 
sectarian differences, which have brought discredit on 
Christianity ? Might not, thus, the London Univer- 
sity, being founded on no peculiar creed, have bestowed 
an eminent blessing on this country, if it had understood 
its calling ? Why were there not men appointed, of 
decided piety of character, and of views sufficiently en- 
lightened to place them above their parties, to proclaim, 
from the chairs of the London University, Christianity 
without denomination, such as it was at the beginning .'' 
This question, however, I must not press too hard, know- 
ing what answer may be returned. Indeed, I should be 
willing, on this point, to take shame to myself, if, thereby, 
I could induce the religious Avorld to follow my example, 
and to avow, that men who would teach undefiled, imsec- 
tarian Christianity, are hardly to be found ; and that the 
scribical spirit of " the believers," not only indisposes 
men to have much to do with religion, but has, also, buried 



HAS M.AN A RIGHT TO LEGISLATE ? 205 

the key of knowledge. The Romish Church stands 
charged with having withheld from the people, the letter 
of revelation ; and the Protestant Churches are guilty of 
withholding its spirit : what, tlien, will the Lord say to 
them at his coming, but what he said to Chorazin and 
Bethsaida ? — ■ 

Such is the effect of party spirit, that it annihilates all 
the gifts of heaven, and turns them into a breath of vanity, 
and, therefore, as this spirit is running higher in the 
wealthier classes, the consequence is, that in spite of all the 
errors committed in the education of the poor, yet the feel - 
ings of the former are still more deeply perverted, and that 
there is now, as much as in the beginning, greater hope of 
pure gospel principles gaining ground among the poor, than 
amono; the rich. V^e have seen what extensive ravages 
ambition and bigotry make, in the moral harvest of " gen- 
teel education ;" but happy would it be if that was all. 
There are many more false principles, which preclude the 
blessing of heaven from that important field of labour ; and 
although it is impossible for me to enumerate them all, 
within the limits which I must prescribe to myself, yet I 
cannot forbear introducing one or two more of them to your 
notice, seeing that their influence is active everywhere, and 
that their corrupt tendency is suspected nowhere. In the 
first instance, I would call your attention to a principle, 
universally cherished, and never called into question, 
either in the general conduct of society, or in particular 
reference to education ; the principle, namely, that man 
has a right to legislate for himself. Any one that is at all 
conversant Avith Scripture, will admit, that there is not any 
relationship between man and man, the nature of which is 
not explained, and the principles by Avhich it ought to be 
regulated, laid down, as positive enactments, in the records 
of divine revelation ; and it is, therefore, rather extraordi- 
nary, that a country, which boasts of all its institutions 
being founded upon the basis of Scripture, should abound 
in laws, not only distinct from, but even contrary to, those 



206 NO CHRISTIAN STATE IN ALL CHRISTENDOM. 

contained in the Bible. Christianity, it is true, is called, 
in a technical phrase, " part and parcel of the law of the 
land ;" but how few are there of the laws of the Old or 
New Testament, which are practically acknowledged, and 
enforced, as civil laws ! And how many which are directly 
infringed, by obedience to the law of the land, which is, 
almost throughout, at variance with the principles of reve- 
lation ; so much so, that no person, who would strictly 
adhere to the latter in his conduct, could ever be actively 
engaged in the service of this, or any other state in 
Christendom. Passive obedience to the powers that be, is 
all that the true Christian can give, and is what he will 
always give ; but active co-operation he Avould be con- 
strained to decline, were he to examine, impartially, the 
spirit of those institutions, to which he lends himself as an 
instrument, by undertaking any public office. I am not 
now at leisure to inquire into the causes of this strange 
inconsistency of our social constitution, and of the seeming 
necessity of its continuance, at least, in a measure ; my 
business is to examine the effect which this principle, be- 
queathed to Christendom by the heathen world, has upon 
education. Of this, nothing would give us a clearer idea, 
than if we had a room full of schoolmasters gathered 
together, and they were to be called upon to give an 
account of the right which they assume, of making the law 
for their pupils. The astonishment which they would ex- 
press at a doubt, so subversive of every one of their notions, 
and calculated, in their opinion, to sap the very foundation 
of their calling, would afford the most satisfactory evidence 
of their deep-rooted conviction, that it is lawful for man to 
make the law to man, and particularly for a man, grown 
big and tall, to make it to those tiny creatures, called 
children. That there is an everliving Lawgiver, who is to 
be immediately appealed to on every occasion, and to 
whose decisions, in the child, the teacher has as much a 
duty to bow, as the child to the commands which he gives, 
in and through the teacher, is a doctrine directly opposed 



SCHOOL-BOY PARLIAMENTS AND LAW-COURTS. 207 

to that generally professed, which makes the teacher*'s 
opinion, his feeling, and his word, the standard of right- 
eousness, to which the child is to submit, without a mur- 
mur. I have, on a former occasion, adverted to the 
immense moral advantage, which might be derived from 
considering and treating education, as a mutual course of 
improvement, for both the educator and the educated ; and 
our whole subject abounds with proofs of the evils, arising 
from the arrogance of man to assume, in this, the most 
sacred of all ministries, a right of legislation. There is, 
however, one abuse of the principle alluded to, so outra- 
geous, that it has been exclusively reserved for those pri- 
vileged objects of perverse tuition, the children of the 
wealthier classes. It is bad enough that a schoolmaster, 
instead of ruling by the internal power of goodness, which 
is of God, in his children, should enact a set of outward laws 
and rules, of which he is the sole legislator, judge, and 
executor ; but it is far from an improvement upon this 
plan, to make the boys themselves act a farce of legislative 
and executive government, as is the case under the golden 
reign of the Hazel wood System. In those exceedingly 
liberal schools, in which a father can get his child's religion 
made to order, the boys are taught to make their own 
morality for themselves. They are made to meet together 
in legislative assemblies, and to settle, among themselves, 
what they will, at each time, consider to be right ; and they 
are made to sit as judges, and to empanel each other, as 
juries, in order to pronounce of what they hold each other 
guilty, and what punishment they mean to inflict upon 
each other. For the curious details of these punch and 
judy parliaments and law-courts, in which boys are made 
to ape men, that, when come to man's estate, they may not 
be able to distinguish it from that of a boy, I refer you to 
the work before quoted, in which you will find a most 
flourishing description of the system itself, as well as of its 
operation. Within my knowledge, tliis is far the most 
complete, and the most successful attempt, to frame educa- 



208 JUDGE NOT, THAT YE BE XOT JUDGED. 

tion upon the pattern of society, and thereby to educate a 
race of men, fit for nothing else, but to live on in that 
state of things in which they are born. With the greatest 
possible respect for ancient institutions, we ought always 
to combine a tendency to improve them; and that tendency 
ought to manifest itself in education, by keeping the chil- 
dren, as much as possible, free from the fettering influences 
of the existing system, and by directing their minds en- 
tirely to the -original standard of all that is right and good, 
so that, in their maturer days, they may have both, the will 
and the power, of establishing a better order of things. 
Now, with reference to the point in question, I would ask : 
Is the present mode of legislating and administering 
justice, the very pattern of perfection, or does it require 
great improvement, nay, perhaps a radical reform ? Is it 
lawful for one man to judge another ? I know the answer 
that will be given : The jury, they say, do not judge, they 
only pronounce, as to the act having been committed or 
not ; and the judge, who pronounces the sentence, does not 
judge, he only applies the law to the case, as it is laid 
before him. But, is it more than a mockery of our Sa- 
viour's command, by which we are enjoined not to judge, 
that the sin is systematically divided between three dis- 
tinct parties : the legislature, which enacts a penal law, the 
jury, which declares the prisoner guilty, and the judge, 
which pronounces the sentence of the law upon him ? 
They do not judge sevei'ally, I know, but do they not 
judge conjointly ? Would they not, upon their own sys- 
tem, condemn three thieves, who, having plundered a shop, 
would excuse themselves, by saying, the first, that he had 
not stolen the article, but merely taken it up, and handed 
it to another ; the second, that he had not taken it, but 
merely carried it out of the shop ; and the third, that he 
had no share in the removal of it, but that he merely 
offered it for sale ? It is true, that none of these three 
actions does, in itself, constitute a theft, but do they not, 
when put together ? Now, in the same manner, the legis- 



THE DUTY OF SOCIETY TOWARDS OFFEXDERS. 209 

lature, the judge, and the jury, can, each of them, plead 
that they do not judge their fellow-creature ; but, never- 
theless, their several acts taken together, amount to a judg- 
ment upon their fellow-creature, inasmuch as they hold 
him guilty, and inflict upon him, Avhat they consider a meet 
recompense for his guilt. If this is not judging, I should 
like to know what is ? And if it must be admitted to be 
judging, I should like to know what excuse can be pleaded 
for thus flying in the face of the Saviour's command ? I 
know that this cuts deep at the root of the present insti- 
tutions ; but I care not ; if, what I say, be not true, if it 
be not founded upon gospel principles, I know that it will 
not stand ; and, if it be true, it is better that it should be 
said, than that we should go on longer in our blindness. 
If there is something bad at the foundation of the present 
institutions, it is right to point it out, lest the whole struc- 
ture should give way, and bury us under its ruins. It is 
in vain that we conceal these matters from ourselves, and 
bow our heads to an authority, which owes its whole 
weight to the silent and thoughtless consent of ages, more 
or less barbarous. Those institutions are upheld by the 
powers that be. I know it ; and, therefore, I am ready 
to submit to them most cheerfully, as far as passive obe- 
dience goes, on the same ground, on which the first Chris- 
tians were enjoined to obey even the heathen emperors ; 
but when these things are done in the name of Christ, and 
by virtue of his authority, then it is the duty of every 
Christian to enter his protest against the misappropriation 
of the Christian name to things, which are essentially un- 
christian. And what can be more directly contrary to 
Chrisfs religion, than judging owe fellow-ci'eatures ? If 
society acted in His spirit, what would be its conduct to- 
wards offending members .? Their temporal necessities, 
which operate in the way of temptation, would be re- 
lieved ; their moral state would be considered as an object 
of deep commiseration, calling, not only for forgiveness, 
but for an active exertion, to convince them of their evil 



210 



LEGAL FALSEHOOD. 



condition, and to induce them to choose a better path. 
The agents of society, if society were constituted on Chris- 
tian principles, would heap coals of fire on the heads of 
offenders, by coming forward as their kind benefactors and 
instructors — ^not as their judges — and, if they did so, they 
would not be compelled, as they now are, to sanction a 
solemn lie in the mouth of every guilty individual, who is put 
to their bar, and who, by setting up the false plea of " not 
guilty," and, at the same time, asking to be tried by " his 
God and his country," commits a denial of his guilt, 
aggravated by the use of the divine name, at the 
very moment when he ought to repent, and when 
his fellow-christians should earnestly entreat him to do 
so. This circumstance alone, that humanity renders a 
legal falsehood necessary, one should think, might 
be sufficient to arouse the suspicions of conscientious 
Christians, respecting the consistency of the existing laws 
with the principles of our religion. But there are other 
points, equally plain, by which the matter might be decided. 
A Christian, for instance, must admit, that man has not 
his life and liberty given to him by God, for the mainte- 
nance of social order ; whence it follows, that they ought 
never to be sacrificed to it, by virtue of the simple principle, 
that nothing can lawfully be sacrificed to any other pur- 
pose, than that for which it is intended. On this principle, 
society itself becomes a means for the attainment of that 
spiritual purpose, for which man is created, and for which 
he is placed in society ; and, therefore, no sacrifice that 
society might bring, for the attainment of that purpose by 
any one of its members, could ever be too great. I am fully 
aware that this view, in which society is represented as the 
debtor of those, whom it has been accustomed to brand 
with ignominy, and to visit with penal inflictions, is, in a 
certain measure, impracticable ; that is to say, that, in the 
deep corruption in which society is merged, a return to 
Christian principles is not possible, otherwise than gra- 
dually ; but this, conclusive as it might be against a pro- 



PREVALENCE OF AN HIRELING SPIRIT. 211 

ject of abolishing all the existing laws by one stroke, proves 
nothing against him, who only states the principle as one, 
to which the present state of things is opposed, and which 
ought to be urged upon the public mind with a view to 
improvement. And by what can we have more hope of 
advancing towards an improved state, than by educating 
the rising generation in purer ideas, respecting the purpose 
of society, the nature of justice, and its subordination to 
charity ? But to effect this, we must first banish the false 
principles, to which the present generation pays an idola- 
trous homage, from the field of education; that both, doctrine 
and practice, may co-operate, to render our children better 
meji than we are, and thereby able to form, and to live in, 
a better state of society than that, through which it is our 
lot to drag a painful existence. 

Another leading vice of society, which I cannot pass 
over without some mention being made of it, as it has an 
eminent share in corrupting the education of the wealthier 
classes, is the habit of presenting a selfish and interested 
end as the prize of every exertion. I have already, touch- 
ing the education of the poor, animadverted upon the 
mercenary spirit in which it is conducted, and what I have 
there said, is fully as applicable to that of the rich. Tlie 
sixpences and cakes, by which the fathers and mothers 
reward the application and good behaviour of their sweet 
darlings, the books, and other examination prizes, distri- 
buted in public and private schools, tlie scholarships and 
fellowships, in the gift of the Universities, are all of one 
piece with the reward tickets of the Borough Road, and 
the three two-pences in the Clergyman's pocket. The 
origin of these artificial inducements to mental activity 
and the acquisition of knowledge, is not difiicult to be 
accounted for, if we but consider the dryness of the 
monastic education of the middle ages, which was more a 
deadening, than an enlivening, of the mind. Hence, 
wherever the oldfashion methods of teaching are pre- 
served, it is by no means astonishing, that it should be 

p 2 



212 THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE NOT BELIEVED IN. 

found necessary, to preserve the oldfashion means for 
inducing people to allow themselves to be taught ; but 
the case is very different, when we come to institutions, 
which pretend to have thrown off those old systems, and 
to have opened a vein of instruction, from which know- 
ledge flows in abundant streams, carrying with it intrinsic 
interest and delight. When we hear men boast at every 
street corner of the value of knowledge, nay, and of its 
power too, we expect to find some practical proof, that they 
believe in that value and power. Now it so happens, that 
I have lately been to the Hall of the London University, 
with a friend of mine from the country, who wished to see 
the building, and, to my great astonishment, I beheld there 
a list of rewards and prizes, distributed to the pupils of 
the different classes. Is it possible, said I to myself ! Can 
"the schoolmaster" have so mean an idea of the charms, and 
of the stimulating power of knowledge, that rewards are 
deemed necessary to induce these young men to accept it 
from his hands ? — Indeed this is, with so many other facts 
of a similar description, a clear proof, that it is easy to 
raise a new institution, but difficult to fill it with a new 
spirit ! 

And whence does that difficulty arise, but from the 
general ignorance and the general perversion of right 
principles. In a land, in which every good thing is done 
for hire, and hardly any thing without hire, it is but con- 
sistent with the general feeling, that children should be 
taught to do, whatsoever they do, for hire's sake. A father 
likes his boy to have a reward in view, when he exerts 
himself, that he may always know, for what he does it. Im- 
provements, on this head, will not so soon be relished by 
the mass, "and therefore they will not so soon be made by 
schoolmasters, who themselves have nothing in view, but 
to serve the mass for hire's sake; nor by institutions raised 
on so extensive a scale, as to require the support of great 
popularity, whereby they become, of necessity, subject to 
the public prejudices. Here is the very root of the evil- 



DIFFICULTIES OF A PKACTICAL EXPERIMENT. 213 

The ignorance of the public, and the obstinacy with which 
every one, individually, opposes, whatever is calculated to 
enlarge his notions and to correct his errors, is the cause, 
why practical improvements are so difficult of introduc- 
tion. I have often heard the outcry : " What use is it 
preaching these things in theory ! why not exemplify them 
in practice, that we may be convinced by the results T'' 
Very true ! I grant, that a practical illustration would 
act most powerfully ; but where is the possibility of it, in 
the present state of public opinion ? Where are the chil- 
dren to come from, and who is to provide the means for 
their education ? As to the wealthier classes, where the 
means are at hand, I think that most parents would rather 
lose their lives, than permit their children to receive an 
education independent of, or opposed to, their own preju- 
dices and party feelings. Poor children you might cer- 
tainly have, easily enough, if you undertook to provide for 
them ; but this involves an expense, for which the purses 
of the rich must again be resorted to; and there is no hope 
of getting the assistance of their guineas without the impe- 
diments of their narrowmindedness. In this position of 
things, I say, it is better for a man to leave a great work 
undone, than to defeat its purpose, by doing it after the 
fashion of the world — and, if he be confined to preaching, 
well, then, let him preach ! Let him preach against the 
ignorance of the public, and the perverse principles of 
society ; let him proclaim pure and holy principles, let him 
bear witness to that light, which shineth in darkness, to 
that strength, which is' made perfect in weakness : and, 
surely, his words will not be lost ; the dawn of a better day 
will break in upon education, as sure as it is impossible 
for the weakness and narrowmindedness of man, to stifle 
the life, and light, and power of God ! 

Before concluding this lecture, I must beg leave to call 
your attention, for a few moments, to the second part of 
our question, viz., ^^ By what means can the education of 



21-t CLASSIFICATION OF KXOW'LKDGE. 

bof/i, poor and rich, I fo produce, in the course of 

time, a more hannouiou.^^ .<fate of soeieti/ f 

The auswei" to tliis question is. in a great measure, con- 
tained in what I have ah*eady said, resjiec ting the principles, 
hv Avliicli education is at present governed, and respecting 
the foiuidations on wliich it ougl\t to be placed. If we 
were to make the living power of God, within the soul, 
the groundwork of education, Ix^th for the poor and the 
rich, there can he no doubt, but that a harmonious state of 
society woidd bo the result. Supposing, then, that you 
bear this cardinal point in mind, and likewise, that you 
reccillect the application. \\ iiieh the general principle re- 
ceiveil, when contrasted with the false principles hitherto 
prevtiilino-. 1 shall take tliis opportunitv of saving a few 
words respeetiuiX the ditterent branches of instruction, 
whicli ought, upon the basis hud down in my fourth lecture, 
to be empkwed for the piu'pose of developing and cidti- 
vating the mental and moral faculties of the pupils. 

The whole range of knowledge, whatever be its object, or 
the source from whieli it is derived, is to be divided into 
three classes, corresponding with the three classes of 
faculties, viz. 

1. Ktioicledge of the outward creation . incJinii)ui man 
himself a^ a luaferial beimj. 

2. Knoirledge of htonan e.visfencCs as re<y-ardft mafis 
immaterial mi fa re. 

3. liiiotrledgv of the divine heiiid. 

There is an important distinction to be made, under each 
of these three heads, which, if it were clearly kept in view, 
might contribute much to render the instruction of different 
branches of knowledge more harmonious, by assigning to 
each its proper place, and exhibiting it in its true rela- 
tion to others. As regards the knowledge of the outward 
world, in the lirst instance, we ought to distinguish between 
the law by which it exists, mid which is inunateriid. on 
one hand, and. on the otlier. tlie things which exist under 
that law. In a pure and perfectly spirituid state, there 



xfrjiJki.& .\>u Mt»it. 215 

can be no doubt, but that the apprehensica of the law of the 
visible world would be identical with the immediate intui- 
tion of the Godhead, inasmuch as that all-pervadiog power, 
by which the world was made, has never been separated 
from God, but has ever been, and ever will be, one with 
him. In that imperfect and ootmpted state, howerer, 
in which man enters this present stage of existence, he is 
incapable of that comprehensive and sablime view ; — nerer- 
theless, he is not cut off from the perceptioo of the liring 
law of God, in the visible creaticn ; for God has granted him a 
sight of it, adapted to the present £mte state of his faculties, 
whereby he is permitted to apprehend the divine law in 
creatum, gradually, and, as it were, in diiferent re&acdoos 
of aoe undivided ray. All that exists outwardly, exisU 
both in time and in space, and occupies in eadi a certain 
extent ; and man is rendered capable of understanding its 
existence, by the faculties which he has far devdoping, 
that is to say, gradually apprehending, within himself, the 
laws of space and of time, and which are, as all his facul- 
ties, distinguished as faculties of understanding and of 
feding. The law of time, as apprdiended by the under- 
standing, is expressed in the science of numbei^ >. e. arith- 
metic and algebra ; enabling man to distinguish and fix 
individualities in the indefinite prepress of time ; whilst the 
union of all these successioDs in one harmony, is represented 
in music, the analogy of which to the existence of things 
in time.genaally,is less obvious, only because its true nature 
is less understood than that of number. As Haydn's Mes- 
siah is music to the ear of man, so is the progresave deve- 
hjjpmeat of the human race, and its ultimate restocatioa to 
its pristine state, music to the ear of the Most Hig^ As 
no piece of composition can be understood, until it be coo»- 
pl^ed, so likewise is the music of the world unintciligiMe 
to man, and must be so to every other created ^niit, not 
endowed witii prescience, until Grod^s purpose in that port 
of his creation be fulfilled ; but to Him, befi»e whom time 
shrinks into nothing, sid eternity is no more than the 



216 FORM AXD DRAWING, 

twinkling of an eye, all his countless worlds are ever sound- 
ing together in one eternal hai-monv. 

The same reference wliich the science of number, and 
the art of imisic, have to time, as expressions of the divine 
law in it, exists likewise from space to the science of 
form, i. e. geometry, trigonometr}-, &c., and to the plastic 
arts, which diiFer from each other only as to the material, 
on which their creative power is exercised, and, consequent- 
l}'^, as to the means of attaining their common object, the 
representation of harmon}' in form and space. Hence it is 
sufficient that one of them, and that the simplest, viz. draw- 
ing, which is the foundation of all the others, should be 
generally taught ; and, in the same manner with regard to 
music, all that is generallv required, is the art of singing, 
which is not only the simplest, but also the purest and 
most expressive music, and that, on which all instrumental 
music ultimately rests. Thus Ave obtain four branches of 
instruction, which are generally applicable to the education 
of all classes of societv, and with which no human being- 
ought to be totally unacquainted, viz., number. form, 
dratcingf and sijiging. These ought to be taught, with- 
out any reference to outward circumstances ; and, in the 
first instance, likewise, without any view to what is called 
the practical purposes of life, in order to make them efFec- 
tuallv subservient to the attainment of their true purpose, 
viz., the enlargement of the faculties of the soul, and their 
development in harmonv with, and knoAvledge of, the divine 
law, in that part of creation to which they refer. Let the 
pupil get acquainted with number and form, Avith their 
properties and internal connexions ; let his mind acquire 
acuteness of perception, clearness of distinction, firmness 
of conviction, in following their intricate, and yet simple, 
relations, their characteristic features, and their immutable 
laws ; let him, on the other hand, be enlivened and ele- 
vated by the influence of beauty and harmony, not by the 
mere cultivation of his eye and hand, of his ear and voice, 
but by the unfolding of that sense and power of beauty in 



PUEPOSK OF TRI5 IXsTEUCTIOX", 217 

his soul, which gives to the performance of the hand, and 
to the sound of the voice, the stamp of a living spirit, and 
testifies it to be the work of that creative life within us, of 
which man is, at once, the instrument, through which it 
operates, and the object, which it tends to ennoble by its 
manifestations. 

Thus let man first be established in the power and 
knowledge of the visible creation of which he forms a part, 
and in which he is destined to run the race of immortalitv ; 
and then, when he is so established, then, but not till 
then, let him learn how to apply the knowledge and power 
so acquired, to those inferior objects, which the necessity 
of an earthly existence imposes upon him. But let not 
these mean and perishable objects encroach upon that sacred 
and everlasting purpose, for which God has appointed all 
knowledge and all power, every science, and every art, 
and which ought to be exclusively kept in view at the 
onset of education. Let man first be educated as an im- 
mortal spirit, before you proceed to train him as a social 
biped. 

A\Tio, that has fully entered into this view of the sub- 
ject, and has seen the bearing which the different branches 
of instruction alluded to, have upon the moulding, if I 
may so express myself, of the human soul, and its exis- 
tence in the universe, as a being endowed ^vith intelligence 
and power, — who, that has comprehended the elements of 
tuition, in this sense, would at aU recognize them, if enter- 
ing any of our schools, and seeing how the same subjects 
are there treated ? And who, that hears the pence table 
bawled out in an Infant School, or the rule of three hack- 
nied over in some commercial academy, will ever mis- 
take these monotonous and mechanical operations for a 
means of opening the eves of the understanding, that they 
may behold all the wonders of creation .' Or who, that 
witnesses the tedious and trifling pencil performances of 
our ladies'* boarding-schools, by which time-killing is 
taught as an ornamental acquirement, or that hears an 



218 PARENTAL SHORT SIGHTEDNKSS. 

affected girl of fourteen strum through a country dance, or 
flirt off some silly love-song, would ever suspect that these 
same arts, thus turned into objects of vanity to the foolish, 
and of disgust to the wise, were originally destined to fill 
the soul with divine ideas, and to unfold in it creative 
powers ? Oh ! how great is the blindness of man ! Let 
the idea be broached of employing a child's mind in the 
attainment of objects purely immortal, without reference to 
the selfish use he may make of them, in his three -score and 
ten years : it is hooted at, as the invention of idle brains, 
fit for idle brains only. But let the proposal be made of 
devoting his energies and his time to the art of getting 
some hundreds a year more than his neighbours, that he 
may tread on a more splendid carpet, and take his food 
from vessels of a costlier metal, though there should be no 
mention made of his possessing a soul, which Avas not 
made for this dust : and it will be received with universal 
applause, as a sure method of increasing the general wel- 
fare of mankind. Such is our short-sightedness, such our 
attachment to the things of the moment, that we never 
institute a comparison between the importance of the one 
and that of the other object. The one that is nearest, and 
most obvious, is, to us, the most important ; the other, 
which requires serious thought, to be comprehended, and 
reference to a distant prospect, to be pursued, is neglected 
and slighted. If we were taught aright, or if we had 
learned to correct the errors of our instruction, we should 
feel it as an humiliation, attendant upon our degraded con- 
dition, that the same laws, by which God has created a 
world of glory, are applied by us to such narrow, such 
selfish, and perishable purposes, and we should limit this 
use to the smallest extent possible, instead of making it 
the only object of our acquaintance with those laws, and 
treating them with a sneering contempt, whenever they are 
not directly subservient to the gratification of this body of 
sin and death. 

But I have promised to be short in this part of my sub- 



OUTWAllD NATURE — ASTRONOMY. 219 

ject, and I therefore resume the distinction which I made 
before, between the laws themselves, and the things which 
exist according to them. Of the former, nothing remains 
to be said, but that all human beings have an equal claim 
to be introduced to their knowledge, and that the degree, 
to which they are to pursue the investigation of them, de- 
pends, not on the circumstances of the parents, but on the 
degree of capacity in the child himself. As regards the 
latter, the knowledge of the outward things, a distinction 
is again to be made between objects of nature, that is to 
say, whatever of visible things God himself has made, and 
objects of art, that is to say, such commutations of the 
natural objects, as man has accomplished by his knowledge 
in part, of the laws, according to wliich they are consti- 
tuted, and, according to which, therefore, they may be 
governed and transformed. This, then, is the province in 
which education ought to make distinctions, according to 
the probable future circumstances of the child, which deter- 
mine the sphere, in which he will be called upon to act, and 
the outward means, which he Avill have at his command. 

Of the general facts of nature, no one ought to be left 
entirely ignorant, as all come more or less into contact 
with it ; but the details would be useless, the technicalities 
even prejudicial, to the majority of mankind. Yet there 
remains still a great improvement to be made on this head, 
in the schools for the lower orders, as regards the extent 
of what is taught, and in the schools for the wealthier 
classes, in the mode of instruction ; a few hints, however, 
will suffice. 

In our knowledge of outward nature, we have to consider, 
1. The whole of the visible universe, "the heavens and 
all the host of them." A general idea of the different sorts of 
heavenly bodies, of their movements, and their dependance 
on each other, should be imparted to every child. Where 
it is possible, and still more, where the future calling ren- 
ders it necessarv, the children should be led to make ob- 
servations themselves, and, from a knowledge of the first 



2*20 GKOcniAl'HY. 

principles, to form their own course of astronomy ; the 
mere getting by rote of the names of constellations, and 
the results of certain observations and calculations, is 
dead stock, insuHicient to those who require astronomical 
knowledge, and absolutely fruitless to others. If rightly 
treated, astronomv will enlare-e and elevate the mind, and, 
therefore, should be cultivated, more than it is, and on a 
more developing plan, yet always with due regai'd to the 
proportion of time which it will absorb, that it may not en- 
croach upon other objects, generally or individually, more 
important. 

"2. This earth, as the dwelling place of man, the scene of 
his action. All that refers to the general influence of the 
elements upon each other, and upon the inhabitants and 
productions of oiu* planet, ought to be connnunicated to 
every child, were it only for the piu-pose of accustoming 
his mind to look for a cause, wherever he sees an effect ; 
thus, the outline of physical geography ought to be pre- 
ceded bv an intimate acquaintance wdth the geography of 
the child's dwelling place ; the town or village where he 
lives, tmd the country idl around, should be explored, local 
phenomena observed, and made use of for the illustration 
of general facts. The signs of the skies, the conformation 
of the hills and valleys, the course of the waters, should 
be subjects of inquiry and of discussion, between the teacher 
and his pupils ; to this should afterwards be added an 
outline of the physicid geography of the country, and of 
its position on the globe. The details of the geography of 
other countries, and especially the copious lists of names 
of their mountains, rivers. Sec are mere incumbrances to 
the memory, and ought, therefore, to be excluded from 
general instruction. But when a ri^ore extensive knoAv- 
ledge of the earth is required, either in the future 
Ccdling, or for the aid of other studies, such as history, 
the reading of interesting travels, and a history of the 
discoveries, which have been successivelv made on the globe, 
by the civilized nations, will be far preferable to those dry 



AXTHROPOLOGY ZOOLOGY. 221 

abstracts, which are contained in common geography-books. 
I cannot pass over this subject, without mentioning the 
important labours of Dr. Charles Ritter, at Berlin, a pupil 
of Pestalozzi's, whose extensive work on geography has 
seen a second and considerably enlarged edition, before the 
first was completed. Its transplantation into English 
soil, would be one of the most valuable additions to the 
stock of literature in this country. In reference to history, 
a good account of the Holy Land, for the better under- 
standing of the Scriptures, is also a great and general de- 
sideratum. A catechism of names, with a few explanations 
and descriptions, will never interest ; it ought to be drawn, 
like a landscape, con amore. 

3. Of the inhabitants of this globe, man deserves the 
first, and a separate notice. This is a subject altogether 
neglected. The natural history of man should be gene- 
rally taught in schools, connected with gvmnastic exercises. 
Much misery, sickness, and much immorality too, arise 
from the general ignorance on a subject so obviously im- 
portant. The chief advantages of careful instruction 
concerning it, would be the better preservation of health, 
the correction of public morals, and the emancipation of 
the poor from the extortions of quacks, and the ills which 
their remedies often produce. This would form the popu- 
lar part of the subject : and to it should be added, in a higher 
sphere, a comparative natural history of the inhabitants 
of different parts of the globe, treating of their mode of 
living, their constitutions, and their prevailing diseases ; and 
investigating the influence, which intellectual as well as 
moral and religious cultivation, has on the physical con- 
dition of man, — and, on the other hand, the re-action, 
which a neglected, or improved, physical state produces 
upon his moral development. This would form, in a man- 
ner, the connecting link between geography and history. 

4. Next to man, the animal creation deserves to be 
noticed. Indigenous animals, and, among them, especially 
those that are important to man, either as useful servants. 



222 BOTAXY MINEKALOGY. 

or as noxious enemies, should form the subject of general 
instruction, not, however, from books, but from ocular 
inspection and observation. Much voluntary, and, still 
more involuntary cruelty might be prevented, more 
effectually than by Mr. Martin"'s Act, by interesting the 
minds of children in those animals, which are within the 
reach of their power, and enlightening their minds con- 
cerning the economy of their life, and their various Avants. 
The zoology of the Holy Land forms another branch, which 
should not be neglected in any school. Foreign animals 
should be introduced, only where there is a call for it, — as, 
for instance, the elephant, on account of the ivory, &c. 
Further scientific details may conveniently be reserved for 
those, who may stand in need of them. 

5. The vegetable kingdom ought to be treated upon the 
same plan, confining general instruction to what is indige- 
nous, or what becomes important by its general use, — as, for 
instance, tea, cotton, &c. In agricultural districts, the 
different plants that are cultivated there, and the noxious 
weeds, should be introduced. The medicinal properties of 
plants are another interesting branch of this subject. All 
this should be studied from nature. The farther directions 
in which this science can be pursued, are manifold, and 
must be determined according to the peculiar wants of 
each pupil. 

6. Of the mineral kingdom, the same is to be said ; the 
general knowledge of it ought to be confined to its local 
extent, including, of chemistry, as much as falls within the 
observation of each class of society, and can be made avail- 
able in its sphere. 

It will be observed, that the value of all the instruc- 
tion here enumerated, lies principally in those universal 
laws, facts, and relations, of Avhich the different sorts of 
beings and things, and their various phenomena, are mere 
illustrations. The reduction, for instance, of all animal 
and vegetable bodies, to earthly substances, after the depar- 
ture, or by the destruction, of life ; the re-animation of 



AttT AKD IXDL'STBY. MORAL SCIENCE. 223 

earthly substances into plants and animals ; the analogy 
between the diiferent parts of animal and vegetable eco- 
nomy ; and other facts of the same kind, may easily and 
fully be illustrated, on the most domestic subjects, and in a 
familiar manner. The teacher's rule should be, to lead the 
child to observe, to compare, and to investigate, whatever 
is within his reach, and to make him acquainted with all 
that he comes in contact with, in such a manner, that he 
will not only have a fund of real knowledge, concerning 
what he has seen, but likewise be capable of extending his 
information, by his own observation and thought, whenever 
his opportunities for it increase. 

As regards those outward objects, which are not the pro- 
ductions of nature, but of human art, it depends entirely on 
the sphere, in which the child moves at present, and is 
destined to move in future, in what direction, and how far, 
in each, the child is to be made acquainted with the pro- 
ductions of art and industry, and with the mode of pre- 
paring them ; and as, in every school, a number of children 
will have the same wants in this respect, it will be easy for 
a judicious teacher, to regulate this part of his instruction 
accordingly. Only let him bear in mind, that the object is, 
not so much the knowledge of the things, as the exercise of 
the mind upon these things, and the lasting benefit, which 
may be derived from them in this manner. 

The second great department of knowledge is that of man's 
intellectual and moral nature. Here, again, we have the 
distinction between the law, and that wliich is under the 
law ; and we have a farther distinction to make, between 
the inward and the outward life of man. But, oaring to 
the fact of man's natuj'al corruption, which religious instruc- 
tion only can fully clear up, the law of the Creator is not 
perfectly realized here, as it is in outward nature. This 
circumstance, and the impossibility of discovering the 
law itself, abstractedly, in an unregenerate state, have 
thrown great difficulties in the way of instruction on these 
heads, which will not be removed, until all our educa- 



224 LANGUAGE AND HISTORY. 

tion, and all our teaching, become sanctified by the spirit 
of religion. Even the mere sketch of what should be 
done, would fill volumes, and I must, therefore, content 
myself with enumerating the wants, reserving for another 
opportunity the discussion of the mode, in which they might 
best be remedied. 

The law of man's internal life is to be traced, in every 
individual, by directing his attention to the consciousness 
which he has, of his own thoughts and feelings, at each 
time, and to the standard of true and false, of right and 
wrong, which is implanted in him, as a light, to shine in his 
darkness. 

The expression of man's internal life, or of that which 
passes within him, is deposited in language, which, corres- 
pondingly with man's thoughts, comprehends his own ex- 
istence, and all that surrounds him, but represents every 
thing in the peculiar colouring of the mind, into which it is 
received, and by which it is reflected back upon the world. 
The native tongue ought, therefore, to be taught with a 
view, to enlighten the child on the nature of his immortal 
being, of which language is the mirror ; on the tendency of 
its different powers and faculties, and on its condition. 
Foreign languages should be inti'oduced, as means of com- 
paring the diiferent peculiarities of thought and feeling in 
different nations, and, yet, tracing the unity of human 
nature in them all. 

The law of man's external life, or what constitutes social 
morals, has, as well as that of his own internal life, a record 
within the child's mind, to which the teacher ought to 
appeal. 

The expression of his external life constitutes his- 
tory ; which, instead of being, as it is now, the history of 
man's social brutality, ought to be a record of the pro- 
gress which man's condition made, at different times, to- 
wards the attainment of the divine purpose concerning man. 
Such history, however, is still unwritten, though the sources 
for composing it are plentiful. 



THEIR UNIVERSAL IMPORTANCE. 225 

I feel, that a more full discussion of these important to- 
pics would be highly desirable ; but being conscious that, in 
a whole course of lectures, appropriated to them exclusively, 
I should hardly be able to do them justice, I have been 
only anxious to point out the place, in which languages 
and history would come in, and what instruction ought to 
be given, parallel with them, concerning the immortal 
nature of man, and its various relations. The modifications, 
which ought to be made, with regard to the different spheres, 
in which the pupils will have to move, are more manifold 
here, than in any other department of knowledge ; if it were 
for no other reason, than because the field is infinitely richer, 
and, considering the shortness of man's life, and the limita- 
tion of his means of acquiring knowledge, truly endless. 
There are, however, some things which ought to be uni- 
versally taught. It is not needful for many, nay, I am 
afraid, useful but to a few, to know what views men have 
entertained, at different times, of the soul, — particularly if, 
as is commonly the case, the erroneous systems of past 
times, are made the road to the discovery of truth. But 
it is needful to all, that they should be at home within 
their own hearts and minds, where, at present, most men are 
perfect strangers. It is farther needful to all, to have a full 
understanding, and a deep feeling, of the import of their na- 
tive tongue, and of its connexion with the mind. And, lastly, 
it is needful to all, to have a knowledge of the history of 
their own nation, that the oppressive state of society may be 
to them a source of instruction, not of irritation, and that 
every man may, according to his station, be able to ascertain 
the causes of existing evils, and to sow, as an intelligent 
member of the commonwealth, the seed of better things for 
the generations to come. Men are not machines, not 
ciphers. Every man has a positive power of social good 
and evil ; his existence will bear positive fruits of one 
kind, or of the other, for those that are with him, and 
for those that come after him ; and, therefore, nothing 
should be neglected, that can serve to enable a man to 

a 



226 RELIGION. 

make the state of things, in which Providence has placed 
him, a blessing to himself, and his own existence a 
blessing to others. 

To the third great department of knowledge, viz, that 
which treats of the divine being, and divine things, my 
next lecture will be exclusively appropriated ; so that I 
may here conclude the present. 



99 



27 



LECTURE VII. 



HOW FAR HAS CHRISTIANITY HITHERTO BEEN ALLOWED 
TO INFLUENCE EDUCATION, AND BY WHAT MEANS ARE 
THE DIFFICULTIES, ARISING FROM OUTWARD DISTINC- 
TIONS AMONG CHRISTIANS, TO BE OBVIATED IN IT ? 

Religion is not only that which ought to crown the 
work of education, but it ought to be the basis, the life, 
and the end of the whole. Until this principle be acknow- 
ledged, in its full import, and in its universal application 
to all classes, and all individuals, we cannot speak of 
Christian education being established among us. There 
may be attempts, here and there, in a single instance, and 
in a certain manner, to Christianize education, or, rather, 
to superinduce some of the things belonging to Christianity, 
upon a system which has for its object, to divide man be- 
tween the world and his self. But, with all this, our edu- 
cation still remains essentially unchristian, both as regards 
its general character, and, in particular, the manner in 
which religious instruction is conveyed. 

Let us take, as an instance, one of the prominent features 
of the Christian code concerning the economy of human 
life, I mean the brotherly equality of the members of 
Christ's church, and ask, what deference is paid in educa- 

Q 2 



228 DISTIXCTIONS OF RAXK IX EDUCATION'. 

tion to the injunction of the apostle James, who admo- 
nishes us " not to have the faith of oiu* Lord Jesus Clmst, 
" the Lord of glory, vrith respect of persons ;'' and warns 
us against that proud and ungodly practice, to say to the 
man in gay clothing, " Sit thou here in a good place;"' 
and to the poor, *• Stand thou there, or sit here, under 
*' m}' footstool/' If it be contrary to the spirit of Chris- 
tianity, to make an humiliating distinction, and an inten- 
tional outward separation of rank, among adults, among 
whom the diiference of pursuits, and, consequently, of 
habits, of feelings and of modes of tliinking, naturally gives 
rise to a variety of distinctions, even independently of any 
vain or conceited motives, how much more sinful must it 
be, to introduce such distinctions and separations, artifi- 
cially, among children, where those causes do not exist ? 
^^"ho gives Us a right to sav to the child of the rich 
father, " Come and live thou here, where every thing is 
*' abundantly provided for thy comfort, and thy instruc- 
*' tion ;"" and to the child of a poor man, " Go, and get 
*' thyself taught there, where thou may est get as much 
" information, as we think it right for the poor to have ?" 
"Will any candid man stand up and say, that this is not in 
direct opposition to the Apostle's precept ? Shall it be 
argued, that he merely refers to the separation of sittings 
in places of worship ? Are not your schools to be temples 
of the living God, in which children are to be brought up 
as his children ? If they are not, nor even pretend to be 
such, verily, you had better shut them up, than bring 
upon yourselves two-fold condemnation. And, if we are 
not to make invidious distinctions with regard to the sit- 
tings, which is the lesser thing, how much more unchristian 
is it, to make them with reference to the greater thing, 
viz., the opportunity of cultivatmg and instructing the 
immortal soul.' So far, however, are we from valuing the 
injimctions of the Gospel, that we have not only separate 
sittings, but often separate buildings, for the worship of 
the poor, and of the rich ; and, in education, there is as 



PARTIALITY OF OUE FEELIXGS. 229 

great a gulf fixed between them, as it is in the power of 
man to interpose. 

I am fully aware of the difficulties attending this point, 
particularly in a state of society so far distant from primi- 
tive simplicity, as that in which we live. I know that a 
father could not, ^Wthout an unwarrantable risk to the 
moral and spiritual welfare of his son, — not to speak of 
temporal disadvantages, — allow him to be educated with 
children of the lower classes. The corruption there is 
so great, that the least contact will inevitably produce 
infection, and of the very worst kind. And what does this 
prove, but that the poor cliildren are neglected in a most 
inhuman and most unchristian manner .' A man is per- 
fectly right in refusing to put his child into a situation, in 
which it has a greater chance of being lost than of being 
saved ; but he has no right to consider his neighbour's 
child as a more proper object of ruin and perdition than 
his own ; for so in fact he does, if he remains indifferent 
to the moral corruption of the children of the lower orders, 
which he sets up as a plea for the separation of classes iu 
education ; and he who, having means in his power, does 
not employ them in rescuing the rising generation of the 
poor from the infection under which, at present, the gene- 
rality of them are perisliing, is guilty of as great a sin as 
he, who would indolently expose his own child to such con- 
tamination. For if we are to love our neighbour as our- 
selves, surelv we are to love our neighbour's child also, as 
our own. How much do we betray our unspiritual con- 
dition, our worldlv-mindedness, bv this fearful contrast 
between the indifference, ^ith which we treat the claims of 
immortalitv, concerning which all children are equal, and 
the importance which we attach to those adventitious 
things, concerning whichj their lot is, by birth, different. 
What an outcry of commiseration is there, if a young man 
of familv and fortune ruins himself by a criminal course 
of life, and thereby comes to an ignominious end ! And 
with what cool indifference, at the same time, do we wit- 



230 SPIRIT OF CASTES. 

ness the same corruption, and the same fate, taking hold 
of hundreds and tliousands of our poorer and less *' well 
connected" fellow-creatures, who, in the sight of God, are 
quite as valuable as the other, ^"^erily, we are " partial in 
" ourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts." 

One of the consequences of this our corrupted and un- 
brotherly feeling is, that when we provide for the childi-en 
of the poor, we always exercise a presumptuous power of 
cutting out their intellectual and spu'itual portion as scan- 
tily as suits our perverse views, or our interested motives. 
Nay, in many instances, we educate the poor in a manner 
more analogous to the Indian spirit of castes, than to the 
brotherly spirit of the Gospel. I know a school some- 
where down in the country, established by a rich 'squire, in 
a village belonging to his estate. If you go to that school, 
all looks exceedingly nice and well ; the school is conducted 
on one of " the approved systems," in rather a superior 
manner, and the patron and liis lady take a personal inte- 
rest in its progress ; so that you leave it with a high degree 
of admiration for the benevolence of the founders, if you 
do not happen to know the secret, that the chief object of 
its establishment is, to provide the rising generation of the 
manor-house with a stock of well-trained servants. To 
this purpose, of course, the instruction must become sub- 
servient, as much as the training of the hounds in the 
kennel to their future calling in the field. Of a piece witli 
this manufacture of servants, is the plan of forming 
schools of industry, which has been started, and, on a small 
scale, realized, in different parts of the country. Not that 
the founders of these schools are actuated by interested 
motives ; some of them, I know, are far above any such 
imputation ; but the principle itself, of making a child, 
because he is born of poor parents, work for his bread, 
before the powers of the mind have attained sufficient 
maturity, is, in itself, one which deserves to be condemned. 
A simple appeal to parental feelings will decide the matter. 
Let any father, or mother, in easy circumstances, be told, 



IXDUSTRY-SCHOOLS. 231 

that, from the age of ten years, or even earlier, their child 
should be made to work a certain number of hours every 
day, for his own support — would they not think it an un- 
common hardship ? Would they not plead his tender 
age, and beg, that he may be permitted to grow up, free 
from the cares and toils of this earthly doom, until his 
mind have acquired sufficient strength to bear the burden, 
without breaking under it ? But why should they not 
think a hardship for other children, what they consider 
so for their own ? It is, however, not a matter of feeling 
only ; though this feeling, in itself, is an e^^dence of the 
divine will in this respect. God has appointed to man, as 
well as to animals, a time, during which each is to take 
care of his offspring ; that time is marked in the feeling of 
every creature, by an instinctive impulse of nature, not to 
forsake the helpless being, but to provide for its subsist- 
ence. The slightest acquaintance with the constitution of 
nature, moreover, teaches us, that every being has, at the 
beginning of its existence, a period, during which all its 
energies are employed in its own internal development, and 
cannot, without injury, be devoted to any external end ; 
and that this period is of longer duration, in proportion 
to the more perfect organization of the being itself. Hence 
it is, that man is physically of the slowest growth, among 
the animals of his class ; and it is obvious, both from 
the general analogy of things, and from experience, that 
the additionad consumption of energy, in the unfolding of 
the mind, tends to protract, rather than to accelerate, the 
epoch of his maturity. But the most important consider- 
ation of all is, that man, having a destination beyond the 
present life, and his existence on this earth being merely a 
transitory state, the prospect of life should be opened to 
him in such a manner, as to permit his ^"iew to extend 
themselves, beyond the necessities of a finite condition, to 
the ultimate end of his being. Now, it is well known, that 
even minds, matured in themselves, and strengthened by a 
quickening influence from on high, find it often difficult to 



232 INDUSTRY-SCHOOLS. 

keep themselves free from the encroachment of the cares 
and anxieties of life, upon their peaceful and steady pursuit 
of the heavenly aim ; — ^how much greater fear, then, is there, 
that children, whose mind is too early oppressed by the 
thought of the necessity of gaining an earthly subsistence, 
may never see clearly that, which it requires all the 
powers of well-developed and matured youth, vitally to 
apprehend, namely, the true position of man, and the real 
object of his existence? This is a consideration of 
such paramount importance, that no objection can avail 
against it. I have, indeed, been told by some, who admit 
the general correctness of these principles^ but think them 
impracticable in the present state of things, that children, 
who are educated in industry schools, could not be edu- 
cated at all, or, at least, only a small number of them, 
were it not that the produce of their industry assists in the 
support of those establishments. Of the strength of this 
argument, I confess, I entertain some doubt, having reason 
to think, that in most instances the finances are more injured 
by the spoiling of materials, and by the inferiority of the 
articles produced, than the small profits will repay ; — ^but, 
even admitting the plea to have all the weight, which the 
advocates of industry schools give to it, I should still be 
sorry to see such establishments becoming more general — 
not because I do not acknowledge, that, in some instances, 
they may do a certain degree of good — but, from a fear of 
seeing the number of palliatives increased, on the strength 
of which the social conscience is always ready to fall asleep, 
and to forget, how much remains yet undone, in order to 
obtain a Christian state of society. Suppose, for a mo- 
ment, that industry schools, could be raised, at once, all 
over the kingdom, so as to provide this sort of education 
for every poor child, would not the public persuade them- 
selves, that education was almost in a millennial state, 
from which we might fairly expect the restoration of 
national prosperity, and the general improvement of society, 
cant words, by which we delude ourselves into an idea, 



CAUSES OF THE SEPARATION OF CLASSES. 233 

that all is right, often at the very time, when the adoption 
of a radical remedy is most urgently required. 

Another pernicious consequence of that unbrotherly se- 
paration of classes, at present obtaining in education, is, 
that every class is thus given up to its own faults, its own 
prejudices, its own inducements to evil. Tlie corruption 
of human nature adapts itself, unfortunately, to whatever 
circumstances man is placed in, and hence it arises, that 
every class of society has vicious habits, and perverse, or, 
at least, erroneous, sentiments, peculiar to itself. As a 
counterpoise to this tendency, by which depravity acquires 
the sanction of established authority. Providence has 
wisely ordained things so, that a mutual intercourse must, 
to a certain degree, necessarily take place between the 
different classes, which has a correcting and improving 
influence upon all, both by the conflict of opposite errors 
and inimical habits, and by the good example which 
each may, in some things, derive from the others. Those 
that attribute the separation of classes entirely to pride, 
are therefore mistaken in this, that they do not perceive, 
how the reluctance to be disturbed in the indulgence of 
inveterate habits, and the idolatrous adherence to bigoted 
notions, has as strong a power to alienate the lower classes 
from the higher, as the higher from the lower, and that 
pride is merely an accessory to this deeper and more un- 
conquerable feeling. Now, it seems evident, that the 
more this feeling is indulged, the less is there hope of 
national improvement ; and, if the separation is found to 
extend to education, that the evil has reached its highest 
pitch. That this is actually the case in this country, no 
one can doubt ; the only question is, *' how far is it prac- 
ticable to remedy it .'''" A sudden mixture of the children 
of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, is entirely 
out of the question, on account, not only of the prevailing 
prejudices, but of the real impediments, which the moral 
condition of the latter now presents. But, if it is not possi- 
ble to get rid, at once, of all those separations, it is, at 



234 MIXTURE OF CLASSES ABROAD. 

least, possible to mitigate some of them, which seem, as if 
they were wantonly introduced, from an exaggerated taste 
for distinction. It can hardly be expected, under existing 
circumstances, that a nobleman will send his children to be 
taught in the same school with those of his cottagers ; but, 
there seems no reason why, for instance, a wholesale dealer 
should remove his child from the establishment in which 
he has placed it, merely because one of the shopkeepers, 
whom he supplies, has gained admittance for his child in 
the same establishment ; nor can it well be conceived, 
what mighty gulf there is between a shopkeeper of the 
first, and one of the second, line of business. The incon- 
venience, I suspect, would be but very trifling, .to have 
" the mural down between the two neighbours.'' 

As to the general practicability of uniting the different 
classes in education, independently of the peculiar state of 
things in this country, at the present time, we have expe- 
rience in support of a principle, so consonant with the 
spirit of Christianity. In one of the Pestalozzian establish- 
ments at Yverdon, I saw, at one and the same time, the 
son of a count, designated by his government as consul 
in the Levant, preparing himself for the university ; 
a young peasant, whose father wished that he might 
stand behind the plough, a more enlightened man than 
himself ; and the son of a neat' sherd, from the mountains, 
who paid for his son's education, not in money, but 
in cheese. They slept in the same room, ate at the 
same table, and partook mainly of the same instruc- 
tion ; and, in observing them at their studies, or in the 
hours of recreation, you could not have pointed out, which 
was his excellency, and which was Jack. And let it not 
be supposed, that this is a single, or very extraordinary, 
instance. In one of the minor kingdoms of Germany, I 
have seen the son of a cabinet minister in the same school 
with grocers' and tailors' boys ; and similar sights, — in this 
country " incredibilia dictu,''^ — you might see, in many of 
the well raanasced schools of the Continent. That the same 



THE MORAL FEELINGS. 235 

things are not now possible here, I repeat it, I am aware 
of ; but I have stated these facts, in order that those, who 
are liable to draw general inferences from their own pecu- 
liar case, and to fancy their own system the pattern of sys- 
tems, may Likewise be aware, that a more humane, and a 
more Christian state of things, is, in itself, possible, and 
that they may not treat, as a chimaera, the attempt to 
return gradually to a less artificial state. That such a 
return is necessary, is, on more than one ground, obvious. 
Are we not looking forward to the ultimately perfect 
establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth, in which there 
will be dignities and powers, but no adventitious or invi- 
dious distinctions ? Every step of approximation to the 
state of things, as it vrill then be, is a blow at the hundred- 
headed hydra, self, who has so ejffectually ensnared us in our 
own fashions. 

The empire M'hich these fashions exercise over us, is not 
sufficiently taken into account by those, who lament the 
corruption, and strive for the improvement, of the public 
morals ; nor is there in education a sufficient degree of 
attention bestowed upon that part of our nature, in which 
these fashions have their root, viz. the moral feelings.* 
All the impulses to action, in an unregenerate state, are 
derived from them, and religion can never have a true 
hold upon our nature, nor exercise a vital influence over 
our conduct, until it has impregnated our feelings. Hence 
it is, that the dogmatical instruction in rehgious truths, 
which is, in our days, considered as the sum of religious 
education, has no influence whatever in amending the heait. 

* I call them moral feelings, not to denote that they are morally good, but 
to distinguish them, as the feelings of our moral nature, from the animal feel- 
ings, to which the vtoxHi feelings, by itself, is most commonly applied. There 
cannot be a stronger proof of the oversight, which the moral philosophers of 
this country have committed on this head, than the entire want of an appro- 
priate name for a thing, which in other languages has received such distinct 
appellations. No .EngUsh word will ever supply the place of the German 
Gemilth, or of the Greek aia^>iing and Bvjjio;, which denominate the same, the 
former in its receptive, the latter in its selfactive manifestation. 



236 INTELLECTUAL RELIGIOM. 

It is as reasonable and agreeable to nature, to attempt to 
convey food to the stomach through the eye, as it is to 
make religious impressions upon man through the under- 
standing. It is proper that the eye should see what the 
mouth receives, and so, likewise, that the understanding 
should be enlightened on that, which nourishes and quickens 
our feelings ; but there is yet more hope of one that feels 
religion, without understanding it, than of one that under- 
stands, but feels not, even as there is a fairer chance for him 
who eats in blindness, than for him who sees the food, but 
keeps his mouth shut. Now, the same power, which our 
feelings have for good, when penetrated by the good spirit 
of God, is given up to evil, when our feelings are left to 
the sway of our own selfish and corrupt spirit. To this 
dominion, as much as to the impulse of animal appetites, 
must we attribute the vices of different classes of society ; 
nay, of many vices, by which the animal man is mortified, 
the root must be sought exclusively in the moral feelings. 
It has, perhaps, never been observed, how great a share 
fashion has, in upholding vicious habits among different 
classes. In the higher ranks the rage of fashion is ad- 
mitted to have a powerful, nay, an all-overbearing influ- 
ence ; but that the same should be the case with the 
depravity of the lower orders, is less obvious, though not 
less true. A fellow who has grown up in a sphere of 
society, in which drunkenness is considered as a sort of 
heroism, will, independently of all sensual appetite, nay, 
perhaps, even to the mortification of it, be as reluctant to 
yield to the better conviction of his conscience, and thereby 
to expose himself to the sneers of his associates, as an 
officer, to refuse fighting a duel, though the fear of death, 
and the sting of conscience, may be combined to dissuade 
him from it. Such is the power of fashion, that a man 
will rather do, what he knows to be wrong, and what he 
hates in itself, than make a bold stand against the laws of 
iniquity, which usage has sanctioned, and which owe all 
their authority to the love of approbation and the fear of 



FASHION IN LOW LIFE. 237 

contempt. It is on this ground, that attempts have been 
made, to use that love of approbation, and that fear of con- 
tempt, as a lever in education, to obtain the practice of cer- 
tain virtues, or the fulfilment of certain duties ; but it has 
been forgotten, that those feelings, powerful as they are, to 
prevent a man from forsaking evil courses, have no power 
whatever, to produce good, being the offspring of the un- 
regenerate nature, and therefore evil in themselves. Out- 
wardly good conduct may, in some instances, be obtained ; 
but even that will generally fail ; for it must be observed, 
that it is not approbation or contempt, generally or ab- 
stractedly, that man loves or fears, but the approbation or 
contempt of those, with whom he sympathises, and to whose 
suffrage, therefore, his own feelings give an internal sanc- 
tion. The reveller, who shrinks from the sneers of his 
associates in sin and debauchery, is perfectly indifferent to 
the contempt of an honest man, or of a chaste woman. 
The case of Montgomery, who, after a long course of pro- 
fligacy, poisoned himself in Newgate, to avoid the disgrace 
of a public execution, and who was tormented in his last 
moments by the idea, that he had been guilty of insincerity 
towards the turnkey, in concealing the laudanum from 
him, is one of those singular instances of a strong sense of 
shame remaining in individuals, whom we should suppose 
to have been long dead to all shame. If this subject were 
seen in its full importance, there can be no doubt, but that 
the inadequacy, both of discipline and instruction, in the 
present systems of education, would be felt ; and it would 
likewise be perceived, how much a less strict separation of 
classes might contribute, to neutralize the influence of the 
prevailing fashions of each class. But enough has been 
said on a topic, which might have been dispatched with a 
simple reference to the brotherly union, in which Christians 
are enjoined to live together, had not a highly unnatural 
state of things rendered the practicability of that command 
questionable, in the eyes even of those, who do not deny 
its divine authority. Having urged its importance, and 



238 RELIGIOUS DELUSION OF OUR AGE. 

pointed out its blessings, I must leave it to the conscience 
of every one, individually, to do as much as is in his power 
to give it effect ; and I proceed to inquire, how far, with 
reference to religious instruction in particular, Christianity 
has hitherto been permitted to influence education. 

If we take the answer, which some of the most zealous 
advocates for Christianity return to this much discussed 
question, at their public meetings, we shall persuade our- 
selves, that Christianity is not only perfectly established, 
as the ground-work of all other things, in the education 
of a great proportion of our children, but, likewise, that 
its influence is making rapid progress in those quarters, 
where it had been neglected hitherto. The ground on 
which they rest such presumptuous statements, is, that, in 
almost all schools, the doctrines of Christianity are care- 
fully taught, and their superiority to all other knowledge, 
their absolute and infallible authority, is emphatically 
inculcated. It never seems to occur to these trumpeters 
of good tidings, that the most absolute practical igno- 
rance of religion, is by no means incompatible with the 
most complete doctrinal knowledge of it ; that the mouth, 
nay, and that mystic power, the memory, too, may be 
full of high doctrines, of well-chosen and well-interpreted 
texts, exhaling, continually, the sweet savour of sanctity, 
and yet the heart be in a state of perfect alienation from 
God, and the mmd utterly darkened against his light. This 
was the religious state of the Pharisees of old, and this, I 
fear, is the state of far the largest proportion of the so 
styled religious world, in our days. They are obtruders 
on the kingdom of Heaven, hoping, by their high and 
supercilious professions, to gain admission there, where 
humility of faith, in a spirit of genuine love, will alone 
be acceptable. 

If we inquire into the causes from which this spirit of 
Pharisaism arises, in the first instance, individually, we 
shall find that it has, for its ground-work, the general 
corruption of the human heart, which, in these false saints, 



HEAL A>D IMAGINA .r .-.LGiJiEiATlON. 239 

has been restrained outwardly, ao as to paroduce a aham- 
coosistency with the divine law: but which, inwardly, 
ia unsubdued, unconverted, unrepenting, and, therefiMre, 
unn^enerate, unpurified, and unsanctified. To this coro- 
moii inheritance of evil, which, in unprofeaang aoners, pre- 
tents itaelf as open wickedness, and which, id tibe hypocrite, 
gains in intensity, what it lo^es in extent of msaniataakm, 
our Pharisees have superadded an evil peculiar to th^n- 
selves, religious conceit : that is to say, the imaginary per- 
suasion, that their heart is r^enerated, and their mind 
illumined, by the HtAj Sfont ci God. If the danger and 
the obstinacy of dduakfi ioaeases, in proportion to fbe 
importance of its object, there can be no doubt, but that 
this is, of all delusions, the most fearful, and the most incur- 
able. But rather than enlarge upon a danger, winch is 
so obvious, and an incurability, of which we have but too 
many proofs daily befitMre o«r eyes, it becomes us to 
inquire, whence the d^uskn arises, and by what means 
it may be distinguished from a true assurance of faith. 
It seems natural to suppose, that, where there is a ddnsaon 
of regeneration, some scat erf change must have tak^i 
place, which has given rise to the mistake. This suppo- 
sition is confirmed by fact ; for, to sum up the matter 
in a few words, the distinction between true and false 
regeneration is, that the former consists in a change of 
spirit, and the latter in a charge of objects. Originally, 
that is to say, not by creation, but since the fall, the 
human heart is governed by the frpirit of ttelf, which 
ae^^ nothing but self-gratification, and knows of no 
otber motive, but what arises out of self, and t^eis badk 
again to self. This spirit is in itself restless, for it seda 
ever more gratification ; it drinketh ever, and is eva- 
thirsty ; feedeth ever, and is ever hungry : and therefore 
it wanders from object to object, after the pattern of its 
great prototype, " going about, and seeking what it may 
devour." But God has, in his wisdom, cvdaixied things so, 
that, whatever is within man's reach in this world, should 



240 SELFISH CxODLINESS, 

disappoint his selfish spirit, when made the object of its 
gratification ; so that the renewed hunger is accompanied 
by a disgust for those things by which it has been allayed 
before. Whilst going this round of never-ceasing long- 
ings, and ever repeated disappointments, it so happens, 
by the course of Providence, that the subject of religion 
is presented to the mind, and, from this moment, the great 
trial of life begins. There are two things contained in 
revelation, the first, what God requires of man, and the 
second, what He has promised to give man. Which 
of these two it is man's first business to inquire into, 
is obvious ; but it is no less obvious, that the self- 
ish spirit will prefer the other. Accordingly, different 
individuals are very diff'erently affected by religion. 
Some, who would wish to lay hold of the promises, but 
perceive them to be conditional, and find the condi- 
tions too difficult to be fulfilled, turn away from religion 
altogether, and, generally, for the whole remainder of their 
lives ; being convinced that it can give no satisfaction to 
them, and, therefore, looking for gratification elsewhere, 
where, though they may not have much hope, yet they 
have not a positive denial of it. Others, equally eager to 
appropriate the promises to themselves, are less scrupu- 
lous concerning the conditions ; which they evade by sub- 
stituting some vain outward performances, considered as 
tests in the religious world, as, for instance, assiduity at 
public worship, display of prayer on private occasions, 
frequent participation in vestry meetings, and (though last, 
not least, subscription to, or speechifying at, religious 
societies) daubed over with an abusive interpretation of 
the doctrines of election, and of free grace. The most 
High God, and his eternal promises, are now the objects, to 
which the selfish spirit turns, with a hope to derive from 
them, ultimately, that self-gratification, which has failed 
everywhere else ; the sinner, disappointed by the world, 
begins to wait on the Lord, not, however, for the Lord's, 
but for his own sake. Most of the passions find an ample 



FALSE SAXCTIFICATIOX. 241 

field for their display in religion, and still more in the reli- 
gious world ; the restless thirst for gratification, the root 
of all evil, is converted into a constant fidget for " religious 
opportunities," termed an anxious wish for communion 
with God .; pride is puffed up with the privileges of the 
saints ; vanity is gratified by the applause of ranting mul- 
titudes, or by a more refined notion of the " respectability 
of one's religious connexion ;" the tongue, that unruly 
member, is busy in rebuking the "enemies of Christ," espe- 
cially behind their backs, and scrutinizing the consistency 
of believers ; hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, are 
indulged, in various modes of persecution, both by word 
and deed, and by an affected abhorrence of " the unclean 
thing ;" ambition becomes a laudable feeling, through its 
alliance with a " holy zeal for the cause of the Cross ;" 
covetousness is made a duty, on the ground, that " he who 
provideth not for his own house, is worse than an infidel ;" 
splendour and luxury are sanctified means of adding to the 
respectability of religion ; and so on, multiplying religious 
pretexts for ungodly sins, " drawing iniquity with cords of 
vanity, and sin, as it were, with a cart-rope." A few grosser 
sins are entirely subdued, as far as outward commission 
goes, or, at least, indulged with precaution, so as to avoid 
public scandal ; whatever remains of the deceitful lusts in 
the heart, is laid to the door of Satan,* as his temptations, 
appointed and ordained for the purpose of glorifying God in 
his saints ; occasional transgressions are charged upon this 
" body of sin and death ;" and thus the selfish soul, having 
invested some of its sins with a heavenly raiment, and 
divested itself of the blame attaching to the rest, by trans- 
ferring it upon others, stands in its assumed purity and 
sanctity, a snare to itself; to the world, a phantom; and to 
the wise, a whited sepulchre. This is false regeneration ; 
a change of objects, but the same spirit. 

* On which account a celebrated preacher warned his congregation not to 
"bear false witness against their neighbour.^'' 

R 



242 TRUE REGENEllATION. 

How different from this, the true regeneration, arising 
out of an internal conviction, which no man can give to 
himself, but only yield to it, when given him from above ; 
the conviction that the soul, seeking its own self, and that 
which belongeth to self, is altogether out of its true posi- 
tion ; that God, the centre of all things, being in all things, 
and having power over all, is alone able to seek the crea- 
ture with that search, by which it will be found, and res- 
tored to eternal perfection, peace, and joy ; that the creature, 
on the contrary, is unable to seek any thing but God, 
without sin, and without regard to self. This conviction, 
— together with the apprehension of the power and holiness 
of God, on one hand, and of his mercy and loving kindness 
on the other, — overwhelming the soul, the idea of self, and 
the feeling for self, are annihilated: the motives derived from 
self cease, because their source is, as it were, dried up ; and 
the well of everlasting life begins to spring up inwardly, 
giving man the will and the power to love God as a 
child does his father : to love himself as a vessel of the 
divine life, and as an object of its regenerating influence, and 
his neighbour, in the same sense, as an instrument for his 
correction, and reciprocally, as an object of his improving 
influence, by a mutual intercourse through and in God. 
Here there is not a mere change of objects; there is a change 
of spirit ; the creature has ceased to seek itself, or any 
thing belonging to self — it seeketh none but God, into 
whose hands it has given itself up entirely, not with a 
view to get the blessings, which he can give, and will give ; 
but from a conviction, that this entire devotion is the only 
true position for the creature, to stand in to its Maker and 
its Saviour. Gratification is no longer an object of pursuit, 
though received in thankfulness — the whole tendency of the 
soul being directed towards conformity with the divine will, 
towards similitude, and union with God. This is truly 
" seeking first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.'' 

The distinction, then, between false and true regenera- 
tion, is clearly this ; that the former is an endeavour on 



MODERN PHARISAISM A NATIONAL EVIL. 243 

the part of the creature, as it were, to lay hold of God for 
itself, self being the mainspring of its religion now, as it 
was before of unbelief and sin ; whereas, the latter is a 
yielding up of the soul to God, whose holy spirit becomes 
the spring of a new life within it. The former is a self- 
made, and selfish religion, in fact no religion at all ; the 
latter is a religion, whose source and object is God ; that is 
to say, the only true religion. Hence, it follows, that the 
illumination of the latter must be true and real, and that 
of the former false and illusory, which, though it does not 
prevent a close resemblance, in the literal expression of 
doctrinal points, yet produces an immense difference in 
practice, as well as in the internal feelings of the soul. 
To which of these two religions we ought to show the way 
to the rising generation, cannot, for a moment, be hesitated 
about ; the only question is, what we must not do, that we 
may avoid the one, and what we can do, that we may 
attain the other. This leads me to an inquiry, which 
I had before intended to introduce, concerning the causes, 
which have led to so general a spread of that spirit of 
Pharisaism, Avhich I have endeavoured to trace to its origin 
in the human heart, individually. It is a sad reflection to 
think, that a nation, to whom such power is given, for the 
spread of the Gospel over the world, should, instead thereof, 
propagate, as I fear is the case in most instances, a system 
of spiritual selfishness, which, although, by its outward 
accordance with the letter of revelation, it has a form of 
Godliness, yet in its true nature denies the power thereof, 
and is calculated to keep the world in ignorance even of the 
existence of such a power. For, let it be remembered, that 
words and names add nothing to the knowledge, much less 
to the state, of the soul ; that a man may talk of the opera- 
tions of the Holy Spirit, nay, and write volumes, and well- 
written volumes too, on the subject, and yet he may not 
know any thing of the Holy Spirit ; on the contrary, if he 
associate with those words all the ideas and feelings of that 
fancied illumination, which accompanies a false regenera- 

R 2 



244 MVTHOi.oi. Y wn kki.u.ion. 

tion, the reality of his illusions, which ho is unablo to ilisooru 
from the roalitv of tho ivality, will only tend to insure the 
porpotuitv of his ignoranco ; fen- none are so lunvilling and 
\nitit to learn, as those who fanev thev knoAv already. Woe 
unto oiu- children, because such is the knowledge hy which, 
and in which, thev are educated ! They are taught religion 
bv names and wonls. not by life and spirit ; those that are 
destined \o beci>ine the teachers of the peo]ile. are told of 
the Lord God, and of his marvellous works, in the same 
style, in which they are made acquainted with the fables of 
.Tove and Hercules ; the youthful imagination is indnied 
with both at the same time, so that the latter, which is 
the more palpable, is almost sure to make a deeper impres- 
sion; the importance of both, must, from the solicitude 
evinced by the teacher, appear, at least, equal to the pupil, 
and the shame attached to ignorance of mythology, even if 
there was never any attached to the knowledge of religion, 
Avill cause the bidmice to sink on the side of the former. — 
Is it, then, I ask, to be wondered at, that, from such 
schools, a Robert Taylor issues forth, who can make no 
distinction between mythology and revelation, vand is insane 
enough to reject the latter, because he has sense enough to 
see the futility of the former ? — And let it not be supposed, 
that this reproach falls \ipon the Establishment only ; if 
the Dissenters have not equalled it in *"■ classical attain- 
ments,'' it is only because they want the means ; not 
because they see the impropriety, and the danger, of 
filling a youth's head with " cunningly devised fables." 
before he has acquired any knowledge of the tnuh, to the 
test of which they must be brought, if thev shall at all be 
made aviiilable for instruction. And yet, it seems not very 
difficult to conceive, that it is a heavy sin, to acquaint the 
child with a number of idol-gods, created in the corrupt 
fancy of man, and after the corrupt image of man, before 
he has had time vitally to apprehend the all-important 
truth, that man was originally created after, and is destined 
to be restored to, the likeness of the one true and livino- 



OVll CHRISTIANITY YKT CARXAI.. 245 

God. But none are so blind as those that will be blind, 
and the more the light stares them in the face, the greater 
is their blindness. 

The poor, it is true, have this advantage, that the snares 
of heathenism are withheld from them ; but if they have a 
bad thing less, have they, therefore, a good thing more .'* 
What is the condition of their religious instruction .'' Are 
they not made to run over the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, 
and Catechism, in the same manner, as over the pence and 
multiplication table ; and do they understand any more of 
the former than of the latter ? What can they, from the 
character of their tuition, possibly learn on the subject, but 
that these are words, which are required to come forth 
from their lips .'' About their meaning they concern 
themselves the less, as their mind is wholly taken up with 
the apprehension of the punishment, or the hope of the 
reward, that awaits a deficient, or perfect, performance, of 
this unhallowed babbling of things most sacred. 

But, leaving all these incidental defects of our much 
lauded Christian instruction out of the question, I would 
ask : Where is the school, in which children are received 
in the name of Christ, in the true sense of the word .'' 
Where is the teacher, who abstains from inculcating any 
luiman system, but, contenting himself with laying before 
the pupil, in a plain and intelligible manner, the facts of 
revelation, leaves the interpretation of them to the Spirit of 
the Lord God, having faith that the child has some part in 
that Spirit .'' Where is the teacher, or the parent, that is 
contented to see a child become a Christian, without caring, 
whether he profess himself of this or that denomination, 
or of any denomination at all.^ Or, rather, I should ask, 
where are the people, in this enlightened age, that can 
believe a man to be a Christian, if he be of no denomina- 
tion .'' That is to say, where are they that will acknow- 
ledge a man to be a Christian, if he choose not to be a 
carnal Christian after their fashion .'' Have they not — so 
great is the want of classing men in denominations— col- 



246 THE DIVINE PATTERN OF EDUCATION. 

lected all those, who profess to be of none, under the queer 
denomination, "Nondescript," of whose tenets, I apprehend, 
it would be difficult to give an accurate account ? One 
question more, on this tender point, the carnality of the 
Christian world : If there were no earthly interests mixed 
up with religion, would men be so anxious to give, or to 
receive, from each other, outward pledges concerning it ? 
I apprehend not. If it was purely for the sake of Christ, 
and of the salvation of souls through him, the denomina- 
tion would become less important, and from this very 
reason, the Christian character itself would have greater 
weight. As it is, however, there are but few who can 
understand, that the inward does not come by the outward, 
and still fewer who can conceive of the inward existing 
without the outward, or independently of it. Here is the 
great point. Because we are anxious to make our children 
Churchmen, or Baptists, or Independents, or Friends, and 
so forth, therefore we fail of making them Christians, as, 
otherwise, by the blessing of God, we might be enabled to 
do. Because we teach religion, without faith in the 
indwelling of the everlasting light, in the child's darkness, 
therefore that light faileth to shine upon our instruction, as 
we have the promise that it would do, if we were to teach 
truly in the name of Him, who has been made manifest in 
the flesh, as the true light. 

It is a remarkable fact, that whilst every man, who 
chooses to start a new system of education, or instruction, 
is sure to find followers, there has not yet been any attempt 
made, at least not professedly, or consciously, to take for a 
model, that great pattern of education, which God himself 
has laid down, in his marvellous guidance of the human 
species, from darkness to light. If He, whose is the 
kingdom and the power, has condescended to prepare man- 
kind, during ages, for the reception of that important 
revelation, by which the way of salvation was thrown open 
to all men, why should we, his feeble instruments, be so 
loth to take a similar course with the child, and, instead of 



EARLIEST DISPENSATIONS. 247 

cramming crude doctrines into babes, to lay the groundwork 
of the gospel, by a previous course of practical prepa- 
ration ? But the fact is, that the dealings of God with 
man, have never been understood in this respect ; for, 
owing to the mass of minute criticisms upon the Bible, 
with which our attention is engrossed, we have not yet had 
time to consider the comprehensive and sublime views of 
life which are contained in it, and of which the present sub- 
ject forms a striking illustration. 

The first step which God took with man, after he had 
fallen from his primitive state, was to appoint outward 
nature as his first teacher, and the ties of blood, as tokens 
of remembrance of that heavenly tie, which, by man''s dis- 
obedience, was broken. The second step, in the Noachic 
dispensation, was to impress man with the connexion be- 
tween liie earthly and the unearthly, and to show him the 
outward world, and his own physical existence, as a stage, 
on which he may manifest moral good or evil. 

The flood itself was an awful demonstration of the truth, 
that the most Holy Avill not suffer unholiness in his creation ; 
whilst the covenant with Noah, by the mildness, both of 
its tenor and its emblem, held out the prospect of a hope 
in heaven, to man, whose view, by the first decree after the 
fall, was confined to the earth. At the same time, the few 
simple commands, concerning the treatment of earthly 
things, wliich are added, were the first exercise of practical 
obedience, required at the hands of man, after the fall. 
He was taught to yield up the earthly thing unto God his 
Maker. The Abrahamic dispensation was the next positive 
step ; and the dispersion of the human race from Babel, was 
a preparation for it, in the same manner as the flood was for 
the covenant with Noah, showing man, that he was not per- 
mitted to do after his own will and conceit. Having thus 
been convinced, by fact, of the vanity of the attempt, of 
projecting for himself the plan of his existence, he was 
better prepared to receive the idea of a direct guidance by 
the Lord, and of instrumentality to his will, which it was 



248 THE LAW. 

the object of the covenant with Abraham, at the same time, 
to establish and to reveal : whilst the sacrifice of Isaac 
answered the double purpose, of extending man's willing- 
ness to deny himself for God's sake, to the yielding up of 
the dearest treasure he possesses on earth ; and of laying 
down a striking type, by which future dispensations might 
be recognized. After this, came the Mosaic dispensation, 
with its two precursors, the Egyptian bondage, and the 
wandering in the wilderness ; mighty lessons to convince 
man that he must not lose his trust in God, which alone 
can save him from falling a prey to the violence of man, 
and to the power of the elements. The positive progress, 
however, of the education of mankind, intended by this 
dispensation, was, to extend the idea of divine guidance, 
and of human instrumentality, from the individual to the 
nation ; to establish a state of things in subordination to 
God, to whom all things, earthly and human, in the Jew- 
ish theocracy, were directly subservient ; and to lay down 
a distinct code of laws, regulating the duties of man to- 
wards God, and the social relations between man and man. 
At the same time, the contrast between God, the Maker of 
heaven and earth, the Creator of man, and idols, made by 
the hand of man, — ^between true and imaginary religion, — 
was put before man in the most marked manner. 

So far, the divine education of mankind was purely 
practical ; establishing relations, and giving commands, 
but adding of doctrine no more than was immediately and 
inevitably involved in the expression of those relations and 
commands. By degrees, man was introduced to all the 
influences which earth and heaven contain; he was rendered 
conscious of his own position in the midst of them, and 
the duties resulting from his position 'were clearly laid 
before him. This, in progress of time, led necessarily to the 
discovery, on the part of man, that he was unable to per- 
form what his situation required of him ; transgression 
followed upon transgression, and sacrifice Avas instituted 
upon sacrifice, again with the two-fold object, of preserving 



THE PROPHETS. 249 

the nation from despondency under so many failures, both 
individual and national, and of giving practical evidence 
of the want of that all-sufficient sacrifice, which was pre- 
figured by them all. Nevertheless, the natural indolence 
of man, and his aversion to the way of truth, together 
with the seductive example of the surrounding idolatrous 
nations, often betrayed the chosen people into acts of open 
disobedience to the claims of their divine calling, and the 
consequent changes of their political condition were calcu- 
lated to remind them of their instrumentality to a divine 
purpose, for which, alone, God had manifested himself 
amongst them in such power and glory ; and to impress 
upon them the awful truth, that none, but, least of all, the 
chosen instruments of God, are permitted with impunity to 
resist, or fall off from, his holy purpose. It was during 
this struggle between the perfect will of God, and the 
weakness and imperfection of man, that a farther step was 
taken for the religious education of mankind, which might, 
not unfitly, be designated the prophetic dispensation. 

The men whom the Lord raised up successively among 
his people, were so many running comments upon the events 
of the day, illustrating the connexion, which existed be- 
tween the outward history of the Jewish nation, and their 
moral and religious condition ; at the same time, the object 
of their mission was, to arouse the attention to some farther 
purpose of God, to which all the former dispensations 
were to be subservient. Here, then, we have the first trace 
of abstract doctrine in revelation, holding out to man a 
thing as yet unseen and unknown, and requiring, at his' 
hand, implicit submission and obedience, from belief in, 
and reliance upon, that prospective dispensation, which, 
being spoken of only in riddles, was, as yet, enveloped in 
mystery. Connected with this claim of obedience, was the 
promise, that a help, of which the want grew more and 
more sensible, would be given to the faithful servants of 
God, whereby they would be enabled to accomplish His 
will, in a manner more worthy of the most perfect and 



250 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 

most Holy Being. This mighty help at length ap- 
peared. All the claims of Deity, and all the wants of hu- 
manity, were fully satisfied in one individual, God 
and man. The power of obedience to God, which is no 
other than the divine power itself, received in the life of 
the creature, was exhibited, in a perfect, unspotted, and 
unlimited manifestation. The distinction was clearly esta- 
blished, between the impotence of man, and the power of 
God ; the corruption of man, and the righteousness of God. 
In Jesus Christ it was made known, both, what it was God's 
merciful purpose, to do for man, as for a guilty being, 
and what he would operate in him, as in a being, weak 
and corrupt. Yet, even now, it was not so much in doc- 
trine, as in the events of our Saviour's life, in his example, 
and in his exhortations and precepts, that the Spirit of this 
dispensation was conveyed to man ; and it was not until 
after his departure from the earth, that even his apostles 
were illuminated concerning his real nature, and concern- 
ing the spiritual facts, purposes, and means of that dis- 
pensation, of which they had become the instruments. 
Through them, the doctrinal instruction of our species, 
which had begun under the prophets, was completed, and 
man was now given over to the law of freedom, with the 
light of salvation placed before his eyes. In this state he 
is still, and will remain so, until the great day of the Son 
of man, when those, who have abused their freedom, either 
by rejecting, or by perverting, the light of everlasting 
truth, will be called into terrible judgment, and a new 
heaven, and a new earth will be established, by the instru- 
mentality of those, who have, in humility and faithfulness, 
followed the path of God. 

Having before us so clear an account of the way, through 
which, in the eye of divine wisdom, it seemed best to intro- 
duce man to the knowledge of his Maker, and to the nature 
of his position to him ; it is rather astonishing, that man 
should take upon himself, to set this example altogether 
aside, and to devise a way of his own, which, as might well 



THE DIVINE PLAN OF EDUCATION PRACTICAL. 251 

be expected under such circumstances, is exactly the reverse 
of what ouffht to be done. The instruction of the Lord 
God ended with doctrine, after a long course of practical 
dispensations ; our over- wise evangelical teachers, on the 
contrary, begin with doctrine ; and woe to the man who 
proposes to postpone this part, to begin where God him- 
self began, and to lead the child on successively, as God 
led on our species ; they will cry him down as a man of 
unsound doctrine, as an enemy to Christ and his Cross. 
They will endeavour to find some flaw in his creed, and, if 
possible, to ensnare him by some of their crafty arguments 
on the doctrine of faith and good works, calling him a 
legalist, Avho goes about establishing his own righteousness, 
and holds in contempt the true foundation of faith. It 
may, therefore, not be amiss, here, to say a word or two con- 
cerningthe bearing, Avhich the two plans of religious instruc- 
tion above mentioned have upon that important question. 
That instruction, Avhich begins with doctrine, as it neces- 
sarily introduces many words, before their meaning can be 
practically understood, gives the body without the spirit, 
and thus leads to a dead faith, that is to say, a mere mental 
admission of the truth of the Bible, and of certain expla- 
nations of its contents. That instruction, on the contrary, 
which is modelled after the pattern of the divine plan, and, 
beginning by practice, ends with doctrine, at a period when 
experience shall have supplied the explanation of its terms — 
the pupil having become conscious of the assistance of an 
nternal teacher, — leads to a living faith, that is to say, 
an internal conviction of the inability of man to perform 
his obligations, and the consequent want, both of reconcilia- 
tion with a Holy Judge, and of spiritual assistance for the 
regeneration of the soul, as well as an entire reliance on, 
and submission to, the means of grace appointed by God, 
and especially the help of his Holy Spirit. Keeping the 
distinction of these two descriptions of faith in view, it is 
easy to see, that the latter, which is the result of internal 
evidence, has a root in the soul, and therefore cannot but 



252 HOW TO BE IMITATED. 

bear fruits in life ; whence it follows, that a living faith 
cannot exist without producing good works, while no works, 
on the other hand, can ever justly be called good works, 
but such as are the effect and manifestation of the power of 
faith within. That dead faith, on the contrary, which 
comes by doctrinal inculcation of creeds, is, in its very 
nature, barren, and is declared in Scripture to be altogether 
insufficient for the purpose of salvation. Our religious 
teachers, who are so over-zealous to bring their pupils early 
to "a compendious view of the orthodox faith,"" would do 
well to remember what St. James says of that belief, which 
consists in a mere mental acknowledgment of truth : " Thou 
believest that there is one God ; thou doest well : the devils 
also believe and tremble.'''' 

It is very striking, though, after all, but natural and 
necessary, that the mode of religious education, which the 
divine example suggests, is exactly fitted to the succes- 
sive development of the human faculties, and in perfect 
accordance with the laws, by which their operations are 
governed ; whereas the present mode of religious instruc- 
tion is equally opposed to both. It is more natural for the 
child, at first, to direct his mind to the present, than either 
to the past or the future, and, accordingly, his religious 
instruction should begin, from the things present before 
his eyes, and involved in the course of his daily 
life. He should, first, learn to know God, as the last 
cause, the hidden source, from which all things are de- 
rived ; every object should be traced, through its various 
states, up to the point where the original substance is 
received from the hands of nature, that is to say, of God, 
the Creator and Life-giver of nature. The regulated 
course of nature ought to be observed in the most obvious 
phenomena, such as the alternate return of light and dark- 
ness, &c. ; the incapability of man to add thereunto, or 
diminish from it ; and the necessity of submission to the 
arrangement of the Creator, will strike the child very 
strongly, if he be led to the feeling of it in moments, 



INTERNAL EVIDEXCES BROUGHT TO LIGHT. 253 

in which he shows himself dissatisfied with, or expresses 
wishes contrary to, the established course of things. The 
idea of God, as the maker and supporter of all things, as the 
omnipotent ruler, whose power is irresistible, and his Avill 
immutable, and at the same time as the giver of a thousand 
good gifts, will thus impress the child's mind with that 
reverential awe, which is declared to be " the beginning of 
wisdom." It requires but a moment's reflection, on the 
nature of this first, and, as it were, preparatory feeling of 
religion, to comprehend, that it is impossible to produce it 
by reading, and getting by heart, the respective portions of 
the Catechism, or even of Scripture itself; but that the 
only possibility of awakening it, is in a judicious use of 
the facts of life, as they present themselves, for the pur- 
pose pointed out to the teacher in revelation. The next 
step is, to arouse the child to the consciousness of his moral 
accountability, by directing his attention to that voice 
within, which performs the office of an oracle, before, and 
of a judge, after the commission of any act. This ought to 
be done, in the first instance, with reference to the use and 
abuse of outward objects ; after this, concerning the duties 
which the child has towards himself, and in the domestic 
circle ; and, lastly, with regard to the more extensive social 
duties, and to the worship of God ; exactly following the 
succession of the three dispensations of Noah, Abraham, 
and Moses. Upon the ground of this instruction concern- 
ing man's duties, in the different spheres of his existence, 
which I suppose, of course, to be practical, not doctrinal, 
founded upon the facts of life^ not upon mere words got 
by heart, the child is then to be made accountable, before 
God and his conscience, for all the violations of these 
duties, which he commits ; the evil of sin itself, and the 
painful consequences which are attendant upon it, and 
which ought, in a perfect state of education, to be confined 
entirely to such as follow necessarily, by the immutable 
course of things, should now become the subject of in- 
struction, still conducted in a practical manner. At the 



254 SC'RTPTrRK TO BE EXPLAINED BY LIFE. 

same time, the attention is to be fixed upon the distinction 
between the good impulses, and the power of acting rightly, 
Avhich are derived from God ; and the corrupt tendencies 
of man's own nature, and his natural incapabihty to do 
the good. As the Jews, during the prophetic period, made, 
nationally, the experience of the difference between a life 
with God, and in obedience to him, and one without God, 
and in opposition to him, so ought every child individually 
to make the same experience, and the teacher's duty is, to 
concentrate the child's faculties upon self-observation, in 
such a manner as to enable him to gather the fruits 
of it with consciousness, and with intelligence. The 
prospect of an improved state, by a perfect submission to, 
and union with, the divine life, will, in the child's mind, be 
the natural result of all this. 

As the above course of instruction proceeds, the child 
should be made acquainted with the history of the Old 
Testament, presenting the leading events in an unbroken 
chain, and inserting such of the prophecies, psalms, and 
other writings of the old canon, as are within the child's 
comprehension, at those periods to which they refer. Those 
who have never seen what practical instruction is, would 
be surprised, no doubt, to witness the effect, which these 
two parallel courses would produce, if the experiment were 
tried, and to observe, what constant reference the child would 
make, from his own heart to the record of revelation, and 
from the record of revelation back to his own heart. Such a 
familiar acquaintance with the dealings of God with 
mankind, in what might be called the childhood of our 
species, and with the parallel case in the history of his 
o^vn heart, is the only preparation, by Avhich a child can 
be enabled to comprehend the mission of Jesus Christ, 
as regards, generally, the Jewish Church and the world, 
and himself individually. With how different a feeling, 
and with how much more enlightened an understanding, 
would he then listen to the history of that God- Man, 
through whom sinful earth was reconciled to heaven, and 



CHRIST WITHIN, THE TUUK FOUNDATIOX. 2oO 

the power of heaven brought down upon earth, to reform 
and to renew it. Every word would then have its weight, 
and every word would bear its fruit. And how natural 
Avould the transition then be, from the life of Jesus to 
the glorification of the Lord"'s anointed, and the inspira- 
tion of his messengers ; how enlightening, instead of puz- 
zling, would then the Apostolic doctrine be ; and how 
fruitful the retrospect over the whole of the dinne dis- 
pensations ! This, and no other, is the way to render the 
Bible a book of true and everlasting interest; not a 
book taken up from habit, or from the fear of man, or, 
perhaps, one step higher, the fear of hell ; but a book of 
inexhaustible treasures, affording to the soul rich subjects 
of meditation, concerning the wonderful dealings of God 
with his fallen creatures, to which the constant, at last even 
unconscious and inevitable reference, from universal facts 
to individual experience, would give, as regards know- 
ledge, an ever renewed interest, and, as regards the fruits 
of faith, an inexpressible value. 

There is but one objection to the pursuit of this plan, 
which I think it worth wliile answering, because I can 
conceive, that it may occur to minds, sincerely anxious for 
the best, however opposed it may be to what they have 
hitherto held. It will be said, this may be education 
and instruction on the ground of the Bible ; but it is not 
instruction in the name of Christ. It is true that the 
name of Jesus Christ, will not for some time be intro- 
duced to the child's ear ; but does that preclude the 
teacher's acting in the name, that is to say, from obe- 
dience to, and through faith in Christ .'' Does it preclude 
the agency of Christ in the child's heart being made the 
foundation of aU instruction ? And farther I would ask : 
Is the Lord God, who led the Jews out of Egvpt, and 
brought them into the Land of Canaan, who raised up 
the prophets amongst them, and filled their temple ^dtli 
his glory, any other than Christ, the everlasting Word ? 
Let us not be deceived by sounds. The use of the name 



256 CHRISTIAN TALMUD. 

" Jesus Christ,"" does not constitute a Christian education, 
which, on the contrary, consists, in showing Christ to 
the child, so as he himself has showed himself to man. 
And, therefore, as he showed himself to man, first as the 
Lord Jehovah, and afterwards as Christ Jesus, we ought 
in the same* manner to make him known to. our children. 
The practical difference is this : by following the example 
given by the successive progress of revelation, we put 
the child in possession of the full idea of what Jesus 
Christ was, before we give him the name ; in the other 
case, we give him the name, before he has, nay before he 
can have, the idea ; so that, by the time when his mind 
becomes sufficiently matured to receive the idea, the long 
continued vain use of the name has rendered the subject 
hackneyed, and thus destroyed, in the bud, the very 
essence of religion. It is deplorable, indeed, to see the 
desperate hurry in which parents and teachers are, in the 
present day, to render their children conversant with the 
whole of the Bible, and to furnish them with their own 
explanations of it ; so that it is not an uncommon thing, 
to see children of ten or twelve years, who have had, what 
is called a religious education, ready to explain the most 
difficult passages, for instance, of St. Paul's Epistles, 
and being so fully satisfied with their sufficient knowledge 
of the whole, that they never evince the slightest desire 
to know any more. And how should they ? They are in 
the same state as Rabbinical Jews, who will tell you of 
every passage of the Old Testament, what is the real 
meaning of it, and thereby they rest satisfied ; in the 
same manner, our children learn, wherever they receive a 
careful religious education, the exact meaning of each 
passage, sanctioned by an authority, as weighty in the 
religious world, as the Talmud among the Jews, vi>s. the 
common consent of the respective denomination. Hence 
it is, that the Christian Church has become a valley of 
dry bones, in which " a noise,'" and " a shaking," and 
" the breath of the Lord God," are much wanted. To 



LACK OF HUMILITY. 257 

acknowledge the truth of these observations, and to em- 
brace the remedy proposed, our age, however, lacketh 
one thing, which is repentance. It is true that judgment 
has become a fashionable topic for preaching, but it is a 
preaching of judgment without repentance, and mostly 
without charity. I have heard judgment preached 
against Catholics, against Unitarians, against Jews, against 
the Continental Churches, against the German Neologists, 
against the Dissenters, against the Arminian party of the 
Church of England ; but never have I heard judgment 
and repentance preached to the Evangelical religious world 
against itself; and yet there it is, where judgment seems 
most imminent, and repentance most needed ; inasmuch as 
there the greatest light has been diffused, so that out of 
their own mouths they will be condemned. They who 
know that Jesus Christ is the one and everlasting foun- 
dation, that he is all and in all, they who preach it on 
the housetops, they are, certainly, of all, the most guilty, 
if they lead the rising generation to the knowledge of 
Jesus Christ so, that he can be to them nothing but a 
mere name, and a mere shadow. To acknowledge that 
this is the case, they must humble themselves, and confess 
that in them the salt has lost its savour ; and their unwil- 
lingness to do this, otherwise than in unmeaning phrases 
of ostentatious prayer meetings, is the reason why they 
are blind to the nameless injuiy v/hich they inflict upon 
thousands of little children, regardless of the woes, which 
He, whose name they invoke, has denounced against 
whosoever shall offend one of these little ones. 

But, stifFnecked as the Lord's people among the Gentiles 
have generally become, there are yet amongst them those 
that use their ears for hearing, and their eyes for per- 
ceiving ; and, for their sakes, to convince them, that the 
picture I have drawn of the present system of religious 
instruction, is not overcharged, it will, I think, not be 
amiss for me to notice here a publication, Avhich has re- 
cently appeared on that subject, and which lias been 



258 MR. gall's sabbath school system. 

received with the greatest approbation in some quarters ; 
and, where it was objected to, it was only because it was 
found too great an improvement upon the old system. Its 
title is, " The End and Essence of Sabbath School Teach- 
ing, and Family Religious Instruction ;"" its author, Mr. 
Gall, from Edinburgh, in London a well-known man. Such 
a work, published within the last four years, and since 
spread in four editions over the whole kingdom, is cer- 
tainly a document, to which an opponent may safely refer, 
without rendering himself liable to the accusation of having 
charged the system with defects which it never had. 

Without stopping to discuss the doctrinal part of Mr. 
GalFs book, I shall at once proceed to the practical lessons, 
which are recommended, and the mode of using which, is 
described at full length. In the chapter, " on the sepa- 
rating and proving of doctrines,"" (page 111) we find, 
among others, the following evidence of the reliance which 
is placed by our religious teachers vipon a mere mechanical 
knowledge of words, and jingle of sounds. " When the 
' doctrines have been separated," says Mr. Gall, " the 
' children should be made to prove them by passages of 
' Scripture, the teacher taking care that these passages 
* themselves be thoroughly understood, and their connec- 
' tion with the doctrine clearly perceived. It is here also 
' that the ' Doctrines in Rhyme"* should be revised in 
' connection with the proofs, that they may be so fixed 
' in the memory, and so well understood, as to come 
' readily to the recollection at any future period. The 
' tenacity with which children retain stanzas in the me- 
' mory, renders this recommendation of great importance, 

' as, IF THESE BE NOW WELL LEARNED AND UNDER- 

' STOOD, there will, at no period of life, he almost any 
' leading truth or duty, in the whole range of Christian 
' doctrine, which, when its nature is required to he known, 
' the child will not he able at once to give, with all its 
' CONCOMITANTS, in its particular section, in ' the Doc- 
' trines in Rhyme," or hy itself, in the stanza of that 



DOCTllIXES IN RHYME. 259 

*' section. He thus carries with him into life a small, but 
" well arranged body of divinity, in such a form as to he 
" always under his control, and which, though he be not 
" necessitated always to quote it in Xhe poetic ( ! !) form, will 
" never fail to supply materials on any religious subject, 
" when it is requisite to give to any one ' a reason of the 
" hope that is in him.'' The learning, or not, of these, 
" however, may be left entirely to the discretion of the 
" parent or teacher." 

The following may serve as a specimen of that powerful 

agent of religion, " the Doctrines in Rhyme," and of their 

connexion with the " proofs." Having spoken of God being 

the creator of all things, the teacher asks, farther : — 

" Teacher. For what purpose did God make all things .'*"''' 

" Scholar. All things were made for the glory of God." 

" Teacher. Repeat that doctrine in rhyme." 

" Scholar. — God for himself did all things form, 
To glorify his name ; 
The world, the saints, the tvicked too, 
To spread abroad hisfaine.^'' 

" Teacher. Prove that doctrine." 

" Scholar. Prov. xvi. 4. ' The Lord made all things 
" ' for himself ; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.' " 

I will not speak of the profanation of clothing the word 
of God in such miserable rhymery, which equally offends 
against good taste, and against the reverence due to re- 
ligious subjects; but I would call those, who recommend 
and practise such systems of religious instruction, to account 
for the blasphemous substitution of a vile jingle of dead 
sounds in the ear, to the spiritual implantation of tlie 
living word in the heart, through the power of the Holy 
Spirit. Shall we then suppose, that where God's spirit 
is ingrafting his holy word and will, inwardly, upon the 
soul of the creature, there is any need for such a " small 
" and well arranged body of divinity" — or if these rhyme- 
scribes shrink from such an assertion, what good can their 

s 2 



263 THE assembly's catechism. 

stanzas do, when committed to the memory, but to give 
a false notion, and to produce a false appearance of reli- 
gion, whereby the soul will become the habitation of every 
foul and unclean spirit ? They intend to furnish man with 
religion, " in such a form as to be always under his con- 
" trol;" are they not aware, then, that unless man be 
under the control of his religion, his religion is worth 
nothing, and will only serve to make him "■ two-fold more 
" the child of hell ?" But this is a favourite notion, now, to 
provide children with compendious systems of divinity. I 
know a public institution, in which the Assembly's Catechism 
is learned by rote, to the gi-eat annoyance both of teachers 
and pupils, to whom no more time is allowed for this 
purpose, than is necessary to run over the questions and 
answers, without ever entering upon any explanation, even 
if there were an inclination to do so. When I expressed 
my astonishment that such a practice should be continued, 
particularly as the teachers seemed to be aware of its per- 
nicious tendency, I was informed, that there was no 
hope of the abuse being corrected, for that one of 
the committee, a man who ranks high in the lists of 
evangelical preachers, strongly insisted upon its being 
taught, because it was " an excellent and compendious 
system of divinity, for a boy to take with him into the 
world." What do these men mean, by talking of " con- 
densed views of divine truth ?''"' Is it their opinion, that 
God has been too prolix in the inspired record of his reve- 
lations, and that they will remedy the evil, by their com- 
pendious catechisms and rhyme-books ? Who can read, 
without disgust, the following panegyric by which Mr. 
Gall introduces " the Shorter Catechism :" ^' The ffreat 
*' value oith.isexcel\ent,perhapsbest, of human productions, 
" lies in the condensed form in which it presents all the 
" leading doctrines of scripture, and the facility which it 
" affords even to youth, by means of its regular and syste- 
" matic frameivork (sic! sic !) of referring, for information 
" upon almost any question of faith (! J or 'practice (! J. 



COMPENDIOUS SYSTEMS OF DIVINITY. 261 

" This last property, in the shorter catechism, has been too 
" much overlooked by Christians: few of whom seem to know, 
" that every doctrine or duty in the Christian creed has its 
" specified and regular place in this admirable little compen- 
" dium." Condense the infinite and living truth of God, 
indeed, and shut up the Spirit of the Eternal in a nut-shell ! 
Is it to be wondered at, that the life of religion evaporates, 
in proportion as their plans of abridgment and condensation 
succeed, and that, with a readiness to give a literal reason 
for the hope that is in them, their pupils combine an 
absence, or, at least, ignorance, of all internal foundation of 
that hope ? Is that the proper object of religious instruc- 
tion, to fit men, on all occasions, to give a satisfactory 
account of their creed, that they may appear Christians 
in the eyes of the professing world ? Or is it, that they 
may be Christians in the sight of God ? And if the latter, 
what have the " doctrines in rhyme" to do with it ? Did 
man''s fall consist in a shortening of his memory, that this 
remedy is offered for planting godliness in him ? Or did 
it consist in a rebellion of the will, the guilt of which is 
only increased by a perfect recollection of the law, which 
it infringes, and still moi'e by that sophistry, which sub- 
stitutes an accurate knowledge of that law to a confor- 
mity with its injunctions ? For let it be remembered, that, 
in religion, besides knowledge and practice, the state is to 
be considered, from which both knowledge and practice 
spring, as the fruits of it, and independently of which neither 
can be duly appreciated. Our criterion, then, for religious 
instruction, must be the question : " Whether it has a 
tendency to improve the state ;" not " Whether it seems to 
convey or to preserve knowledge." — And who will pretend 
that such rhymes as those can ever, without a miracle, affect 
the state of a child, otherwise than by imposing upon him 
the penance of the drudgery, which the mind must undergo 
to take in such stuff, and to retain it. 

But even using the discretion given to parents and 
teachers, at the end of the paragraph quoted, to omit the 



262 INFINITE TRUTH AND HUMAN NARROWNESS. 

doctrines in rhyme, the " separating and proving of doc- 
trines," as it is called, in the manner described, is still a 
very questionable proceeding. If it were intended for 
man, to learn the revelations of God by piecemeal, arranged 
under certain heads, there can be no doubt but that the 
Scriptures would have been originally written in such a 
" systematic" manner. And though the imperfection of 
man, and his short-sightedness, require that he should give 
to himself, from time to time, a concise account of what 
he has learned, which every pupil should be encouraged, 
by his religious teacher, to do for himself again and again, 
as he proceeds ; yet, that an universal epitome of this kind 
is not required, is clear from the fact, that the Bible is 
expressly written upon the opposite plan ; nay, there seems 
evidence that it is impossible ; for with all the intelligence 
and zeal, with which the work has been undertaken, there 
has never been any catechism or creed written, which 
received the universal assent of all that felt and thought 
on the subject. What experience has thus taught us, on 
one hand, is, upon a moment's reflection, obvious, from the 
nature of things, on the other. It must be admitted, that 
" condensed views of religious truth" are a want of the 
finite creature, not of the infinite spirit. Now, although 
it is impossible for any man to acquire knowledge, without 
being at first confined by the narrowness of liis own nature, 
which he has gradually to enlarge, yet that only proves, 
that each individual should take retrospective views of his 
own religious proficiency ; but how does it follow, that 
the narrow mould of one mind is the best shape, in which 
the subject can be brought before thousands of others .f* 
This is, in fact, the true state of the case. One man, say 
Mr. Gall, or any other catechism, creed, or rhyme- writer, 
has a certain view of divine truth ; it has, in his finite mind, 
assumed a certain form ; and, full of the excellency of 
that form, which, it must be admitted, is the best for him, 
because it is the best of which he is at the time capable, 
he presents the world with it, as a general pattern for the 



THE SCRIPTUEES NOT THE END, BUT A MEANS. 263 

conception of religious truth ; and upon this pattern he 
cuts out, like a mercer or tailor, pieces of that revelation 
which ought to be given to the child in its own original 
connexion, as designed by God. 

What was the purpose of the Most High, in the creation 
of the world, in the planting of Eden, in the establishment 
of man on earth in his present condition, in the successive 
covenants of mercy which he made with his fallen crea- 
ture ? What was his purpose, when he chose Abraham 
and his seed, when he brought forth his people from Egypt, 
with a strong hand and a stretched out arm, when he 
brovight them through the waves of the Red Sea, and the 
waters of Jordan, when he went before them in a cloud by 
day, and in a flame of fire by night, when he caused his 
glory to shine in the temple on the holy Mount ? What was 
his purpose, when the Son of God came to dwell in the 
flesh, when he suff"ered and died, when he rose again from 
the deadj ascended to Heaven, and sent his Holy Spirit 
to his Apostles and their disciples ? What, in all these 
great and wonderful dispensations, was the divine purpose ? 
Was it, that the record of them all should readily glide 
from the lips of thousands of thoughtless and unfeeling 
children, that the fragments of this record should be 
patched up together, in doctrinal systems, in their brains, 
that they may deceive themselves and others into a vain 
belief, that, " by hearing, faith hath come" to them, and 
that they are born again, and become the children of God, 
whilst, in fact, they have nothing but a familiarity with 
the dead letter ? By the idolatrous homage paid to this 
letter, we have, as the Jews of old, come to the point, that 
the book of God, given us for the promotion of religion 
among us, has been perverted into a means of blinding 
men against the true spirit and the real nature of religion. 
Can there be a greater blindness, than to make that the 
end and object of the whole, which, by God, was only de- 
signed as a means ? The reproof of our Saviour, " Ye 
search the Sci'iptures, for in them, ye think, ye have eternal 



264 " YE SEARCH THE SCJIIPTUllES.'''' 

life ; and they are they which testify of me," in its misun- 
derstood translation, is significantly enough prefixed to most 
of these works, Avhose direct tendency is, to lead the children 
into that mistake, against which the reproof was directed, 
namely, to think,, that in the Scriptures they have eternal 
life, whereas they are only that, which testifies of the true 
source of eternal life. In the face of all the declarations 
of our Saviour and of his apostles, that religion is to be 
sought and found inwardly, we still direct the main force 
of our instruction upon the outward, and, instead of using 
this as a means for directing the child's mind to that of 
which it testifies, we make the outward itself the end to 
be attained, and that in which the child"'s attention and 
energy is swallowed up. When will the blessed period 
arrive, when men shall be able to distinguish between 
knowing the Scriptures, and having religion, — between 
teaching the Scriptures, and leading to religion, — ^between 
the name and the thing ? If we saw clearly, that it is an 
internal and spiritual building up we must aim at, in 
our religious instruction, we should never think of under- 
taking that work, as the electionist-teachers do, without 
faith in the existence of the foundation of that edifice 
in the child'^s heart. We should then feel that the know- 
ledge of the outward word is not a power, nor has any 
power in itself ; we should view it in its true light, as a 
dead material, which, when accumulated at a more rapid 
rate, than it is applied in rearing the structure, can only 
create confusion, and retard the progress of the very work 
for which it is intended ; we should then feel no hesita- 
tion in communicating the truths of revelation in that 
manner of which God himself has given the example, that 
is to say, in a slow succession, giving time for each addi- 
tional part of the instruction to be received, not only into 
the memory, or the understanding, but into the very state 
of the individual, by taking living root in his soul. But 
to do this, requires " the patience of the saints," and a 
greater faith than our religious teachers generally have. 



GOD ISOT THE OllIGTNATOll OF EVIL. 265 

It is their little faith, which betrays them into this hur- 
ried, topsyturvy mode of handling a subject, which, of all 
others, ought to be treated steadily and considerately ; and 
the consequence is, that they overwhelm the child's facul- 
ties, both by the hastiness of their proceedings, and by the 
garbled manner in v/hich they represent things. Thus, for 
instance, can there be any thing more unlike the real tenor 
of the Bible, than the assertion, that God made, beside the 
world and the saints, " the wicked too," and that with a 
view to " spread abroad his fame .^^ Is it possible to con- 
ceive of a more unworthy as well as unnatural idea of the 
most perfect and most holy God, than this, which repre- 
sents him as a Being, actuated by the thirst of fame, and, 
from a desire to see it spread abroad, giving origin to evil ? 
for such is the notion, which those rhymes convey, and to 
which, probably, the author would stand in its full extent, 
as a " separated and well proved doctrine." Not to speak 
of the meanness of soul, which must be required to con- 
ceive of God creating a whole universe, not as the imao-e 
and everlasting mirror of his perfections, the vesture of his 
glory, but " to spread abroad his fame" in it — the latter 
part of that sentiment, in which God is represented as the 
originator of evil, is absolutely subversive of the ground- 
Avork of all true religion, as it does away with the distinction 
between good and evil, between the author of the one, 
and that of the other, and thus assimilates the Holy One of 
Israel with Baal and Moloch. Or, what is the sum and 
substance of all revelation, but that God is a just, holy, 
and perfect God, the author of all good, and of good only, 
whose creatures were all perfect, when coming forth from 
his hand; whose abomination for sin, and his loving kind- 
ness and mercy for his creatures, are so great, that, after 
some of the latter had departed from the holiness of a life 
in union with him, he, unable to endure their corruption, 
and unwilling to consent to their perdition, appointed count- 
less means of mercy for their rescue, crowned at last by the 
most wonderful of all, the incarnation and sacrifice of his 



266 " GOD MADE THE WICKED FOK THE DAY OF EVIL." 

own eternal Son ? And what is the scope of revelation, but 
to induce man to forsake the evil, to which the rebellious 
creature has given birth, and to return to the original 
purity and holiness which is in, and with God ? Is it, 
then, not subverting the basis, and belying the Spirit, of 
this revelation, to represent God as the first cause of evil ? 
A better instance could not be imagined, if one were to set 
about it on purpose, of the false doctrines arising out of a 
literal and fragmentary acquaintance with, and interpre- 
tation of, Scripture. Had the passage of Proverbs, here 
profanely quoted, in support of a blasphemous assertion, 
not been parted from its context, there could be no danger 
of the child's conceiving so perverse a notion of the Divine 
Being, as is here expressly inculcated, and fixed on the 
memory, by a stanza ; for any one reading the chapter 
referred to, and the preceding one, will find himself placed 
with the inspired writer on the stage of a fallen world, 
whose regulation by the Divine Government is exhibited in 
a variety of instances ; and, with a view to encourage an 
absolute reliance on the guidance of Providence, the de- 
pendance, even of the wicked and of their ways, is noticed ; 
in the " doctrines in rhyme," on the contrary, the words 
quoted are brought into connexion with the first creation 
of all things, to which there is not the slightest allusion in 
the context of the passage, and thus a sense is produced, 
which, though it may gratify the predestinarian view^s of 
some of our false teachers, is equally abhorrent from the 
spirit of religion in general, and from the particular import 
of the sentence in question. If any man were to extract in 
this manner, out of the writings of another, some detached 
passages, and, by putting things together, which have no 
connexion whatever, were to put such a false construction 
upon the author's meaning, he would either be scorned as 
a blockhead, or hooted at as an infamous libeller ; but a 
publication, which takes this liberty with the inspired 
volume, and with the character of the Supreme Being, is 
extensively circulated, and almost universally applauded, in 



THE MAN OF DUST AND THE BREATH OF LIFE. 267 

the religious world, and used as an improved means of 
religious instruction. What need we any further witness ? 

And let not the plea be established, that this may be an 
accidental oversight, and a rare instance ; the very nature 
of this religious doctrine-rhyming and text-scraping in- 
volves the necessity of perverting Scripture, and conveying 
false impressions ; of which, if I possessed that valuable 
treasure of divinity, the Doctrines in Rhyme, I have no 
doubt but I could adduce plenty of instances. Contenting 
myself, however, with the samples which Mr. Gall himself 
gives us, whose impartiality in the selection can hardly be 
doubted, I find the next stanza but one, after that Avhich I 
have before quoted, containing another gross error or two, 
on a point of main importance. It runs thus : 

" Teacher. Of what are we all made.'^" 

" Scholar. We are all made of dust, and must return to 
dust again." 

" Teacher. Repeat that doctrine in rhyme." 

" Scholar. — JMan formed of dust at first by God, 
Rank'd with immortals then. 
Till sin brought death, and now he dies. 
And turns to dust again." 

" Teacher. Prove that doctrine." 

" Scholar. Gen. ii. 7- ' -^^^^ the Lord God formed 
" ' man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 
" ' nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living 
" ' soul.' " 

" Teacher. How does this verse prove that doctrine .?" 

" Scholar. It proves only the first part of it, that man 
" was originally made of dust." 

" Teacher. What is the second part of the doctrine ?" 

" Scholar. That man shall return to dust again." 

" Teacher. Prove that." 

" Scholar. Gen. iii. 19. ' In the sweat of thy face 
" ' shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; 
" ' for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and 
" ' unto dust shalt thou return.'' " 



268 NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL DEATH. 

It can again not be denied, that the above ' poetic' 
effusion of dogmatism is literally in accordance with part, 
at least, of the two texts qvioted ; nevertheless, it is evi- 
dent that it contains or implies the following false notions, 
one of which is in contradiction even to part of the first of 
the two texts. In receiving this account of man's origin, 

" Man formed of dust at first by God, 
Rank'd with immortals then," 

it is evident that the child must believe man to consist of 
dust only, whereby his sight is directly obscured for the 
understanding of the subsequent words ; " and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living- 
soul." 

Here the creation of the soul, as the breath of life issuing 
from God, in whom immortality was and is still vested, 
is distinctly spoken of ; but the child having the passage 
brought before its view, merely to prove that " man formed 
" of dust at first by God, ranked with immortals then," 
Avill, of course, overlook this important fact ; especially 
as the two subsequent lines, 

" Till sin brought death, and now he dies, 
And turns to dust again," 

represent the whole man as dying, and altogether preclude 
the idea of an immortal soul, whose existence, whatever be 
its state, continues after the death of the body. But this 
omission of the more important part of man, viz. his soul, 
in the account of his creation, and of the continuance of 
that soul after the death of the body, is not the worst 
error which the stanza inculcates. The all important fact, 
that there is a death spiritual, as well as a death natural, is 
entirely lost sight of ; the contamination of the soul by 
the fall, a corruption, to which even the death of the body 
puts no end, remains concealed under this confused ac- 
count of man's original and present condition. I will 
give Mr. Gall full credit for introducing, somewhere or 



DOCTRINE-MONGERS. 269 

other, in liis book, " a separate Doctrine in Rhyme," to 
make up for this omission ; but then, what good is it, to 
stuff children's minds with a heap of these stanzas, which 
contradict each other, and which it will require a consi- 
derable acuteness of intellect, and sound scriptural know- 
ledge, for the child to reconcile ? Is it not evident, that the 
way to truth, instead of being made easier, is on the con- 
trary rendered more difficult, and surrounded by dan- 
gers, which would not occur, were the means appointed by 
God for the religious instruction of mankind, resorted to, 
and applied in the order, in which he gave them ? Why 
then increase the obstacles in man's way to the knowledge 
and love of God, and lessen his chance of attaining it ? 
Why shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men ? 

Could that religion be deficient, which would be founded 
upon the perusal of the sacred volume, and the experience 
of a heart, early brought to the consciousness of the light 
within ? Nay, it might be " pure religion, and undefiled 
before God and the Father," but it would not be accounted 
sufficient in the religious world ; for it would want the 
sophist's horns, and the tongue of the inquisitor. For 
what is a man profited in these days, if he be pious in his 
closet, upright in his walk, edifying in his conversation, 
and he have not leanied the trade of a doctrine-monger ? 
He will be cast out by the religious world as far as they 
can cast him. For they require of all men, nay of woman 
and child too, that they should have gone round all the 
borders of truth, and be able to tell of that, which is in 
itself infinite, exactly where it begins, and where it ends. 
If inward views of religion were prevailing, men would 
humble themselves before God, in the acknowledgment of 
their ignorance and incapability of receiving the fulness of 
his light ; but the radiance of the letter is easily endured, 
even by the weakest eyes, and hence all that dogmatical 
arrogance and judicial presumption, by which the belief 
in Christ's Gospel is made of no effect among the believers, 
and the preaching of it among unbelievers. Hence that 



270 WHAT IS MARTYRDOM NOW ? 

high tide of doctrine, both in instruction, and in pro- 
fession, which swallows up every feature of the Christian 
character, and prepares an overwhelming flood of nominal 
Christianity, over the whole world. What a difference, in 
this respect, between the times of the Reformation, and 
our times ! Then it was martyrdom to speak for religion, 
now it is martyrdom to cherish it in silence. Then, the 
prominent members of Christ's Church were men, who, full 
of the sense of their own unworthiness, were ready to lay 
down their lives for their Lord ; now the leading men, 
puffed up with doctrinal pride, and making a vain boast 
of their discipleship, are unwilling to deny for him any of 
their lusts and luxuries, and, in the sacrifices of Mammon, 
which they offer to his name, are, in fact, sacrificing to their 
o^vn vanity. So far have they forgotten the purpose, for 
which the Son of God gave himself up to die on the Cross, 
that in praying for the condemnation of millions of their 
fellow-creatures, they think they are rendering God ser- 
vice ! In the hands of such teachers, what will become of 
the rising generation ? And what hope can w^e, any of us, 
have of our children, except by keeping them " unspotted" 
from the religious world ? The time is come when a stand 
must, and will be made, against that increasing tide of 
popularity, which, carrying every thing before it, has 
sanctioned such innumerable abuses. To make this stand, 
will be no easy matter — all the secret weapons of calumny, 
all the open arms of violence and oppression, will be made 
use of against those, who dare to serve the Lord Christ, 
apart from the corrupted and defiled host of his nominal 
household. But those need not be afraid, who know that 
the Spirit of the living God is the weapon of their M'arfare, 
and their standard, Christ, in truth and in spirit. Let 
them testify boldly, and on every occasion, against the 
teachers of the letter, the professors of outward creeds ; let 
them expose fearlessly that unhallowed spirit of self-con- 
gratulation, and of mutual flattery, which has been sub- 
stituted for the spirit of Christian meekness, and brotherly 



UNDERSTANDING DOCTRINES. 271 

discipline. The crisis will be more awful than ever any 
crisis, since the existence of the human species ; and it be- 
comes, therefore, those whose love is not waxed cold in 
these chilly times, to be firm, and to persevere, that they 
may form, as it were, a place of refuge for those who, in 
the midst of the judgments which are at hand, will repent, 
and seek after the way of life. Nothing is to be lost ; 
for the spirit of the world, and of the wicked one, though 
it put on the raiment of heaven, and array itself in its 
armour, will never be able to prevail against the strong 
holds of the kingdom ; but all is to be gained, and will 
be gained, as surely as the power of the Eternal Spirit, and 
the necessity of the divine purpose, will finally have the 
ascendancy over the pride of Satan, and the vain conceits 
of rebellious man. Those that have ears to hear, let them 
hear ; let them search in secret, in the night watches, into 
the depths of the divine purposes, into their own state and 
calling, and into the signs of the times, and then let them 
preach on the house-tops, whatever the Lord God shall put 
into their hearts. 

But I return to Mr. Gall and his book. We have seen 
how he manages to fix the doctrines of Christianity in the 
child's memory ; and we shall now have a specimen of the 
means, by which he intends leading the children to an un- 
derstanding of doctrines so inculcated. For this purpose, 
he has another compendium, called the " Paraphrase on 
the Shorter Catechism," and consisting of " The Common 
" Shorter Catechism, with explanations of all the difficult 
" words and phrases, in the form of foot notes.'''' " The 
" words which are explained in the answers, are printed in 
" italic characters, and the words of the explanations in 
" the foot notes are so arranged, that the child, hy dropping 
" ANY ONE of the italic words in the answer, and substi- 
" tuting the words at the foot of the page, hy which it is 
" explained, gives a clear and distinct paraphrase, or 
" exposition of that part of the answer ; and as all, or 
" any part, may be done in the same way, the whole atv- 



2/2 GOLDFINCH-DIVINITY. 

" swer at last appears neivly constructed, with its mean- 
" ing the same, but much fuller, and more easily under- 
" stood." 

For farther illustration of this ingenious plan, and for 
the accommodation of stupid teachers, the answer to the 
question 31, " What is effectual calling?" is divided into 
twenty component parts, as follows : — 

" 1. Effectual calling is the 

" 2. Work of 

" 3. God's spirit, 

" 4. Whereby 

" 5. Convincing us — assuring us, and making us sen- 
sible 

" 6. Of our sin and 

" 7. Misery, 

" 8. Enlightening — making known to, or instructing 

" 9. Our minds in 

" 10. The knowledge 

'• 11. Of Christ, and 

"12. Renewing \g\ymg \\s new desires after holiness 

" 13. Our wills ) and resolutions of amendment 

" 14. He doth persuade — incline our hearts, 

"15. And enable us — give us strength and abilitv 

" 16. To embrace — accept of, and cling to 

" 17. Jesus Christ, 

"18. Freely offered 

" 19. To us 

" 20. In the Gospel — good news of salvation made 
known in the Bible." 

I recollect, when I was a boy, having seen a goldfinch, 
who had learned to solve arithmetical problems, by means 
of ciphers pasted on small cards, which he dragged together 
with his bill, as occasion required ; and, likewise, to write 
any word, even proper names, by means of an alphabet 
prepared in the same manner. Now, I have not the 
slightest doubt, if Mr. GalFs " Paraphrase to the Shorter 
Catechism" were pasted on cards, the text on one hand. 



THE child's heart THE TEUE CATECHISM. 273 

and the notes on the other, but the same goldfinch might 
have been able to give a clear and " distinct paraphrase or 
exposition" of any the most difficult point in divinity, merely 
by taking out with his bill such portions of the text as 
required explanation, and substituting those cards which 
contained the paraphrase. Nothing can be easier ; and if 
Mr. Gall's premises be correct, the bird will, by these 
means, acquire " a fuller and more easy understanding 
" of the different doctrines."" 

In all this there is, to my mind, but one riddle, viz., 
how it is possible for any man to imagine, that a child, by 
dropping the words convincing us, and substituting " as- 
" suring us, and making us sensible," shall arrive at the 
idea and the feeling of that operation of the Spirit of God 
upon the human heart, by which we are " convinced of our 
" sin and misery ?" Is it not evident, that a reference to 
the child's own experience can alone serve to illustrate the 
meaning, either of the text, or of the explanation, and that 
such a reference, renders either the one or the other use- 
less ? If the child be asked by his teacher, whether he 
recollect any occasion when he did wrong, and, upon 
being answered in the affirmative, the teacher inquire 
how the child felt on the occasion, and be informed that 
the child felt unhappy, because he knew he had been doing 
wrong, and the teacher then tell the child that this was 
the effect of God's spirit, " convincing him of his sin and 
misery," there is some sense in such a proceeding, and 
the child will, no doubt, have an idea of what those words 
convey ; and, though this idea may not be as comprehen- 
sive as that which the teacher himself attaches to the 
same words, yet it is sufficient for liim, because it is the 
most comprehensive idea he can have of it at the time. 
The explanation, on the contrary, though quite compre- 
hensive enough, is defective in this, that it awakens no 
idea at all, and, consequently, leaves the child, as to real 
knowledge of the matter, exactly where he was before, with 
this difference in the bulk of confusion in his brains, that 



274 WORDS FOR WORDS, BUT XO MKAXINS. 

he has now two or three terms, instead of one, to which 
he wants a meaning. To most children, all these terms of 
divinity, in " catechisms," and " paraphrases of cate- 
chisms," are as houses without tenants ; over which, though 
the landlord has sufficient power, to make his imaginary- 
tenant, Mr. Nobody, to remove from one empty house to the 
other, at the shortest notice, yet, by all this, he does not 
fill his houses, nor draw any rent from them. In the same 
manner, a teacher may hunt his pupils over a long series 
of synonymous words or phrases, as expressions of the 
same idea, all of which, if the pupil have not the idea 
before, can, in the pupil's mind, only mean each other, 
but, all together, in fact, nothing at all. So that, with a 
great show of knowledge of " spiritual light," &c., the 
soul remains in the deepest ignorance and darkness. The 
evil of such phrase and paraphrase-instruction lies, how- 
ever, not only in this negative defect, that it does not 
answer the purpose it is intended for ; there are two posi- 
tive evils attached to it ; the first, that it causes the teacher 
to deceive himself, who, when' he hears such eloquent ex- 
planations briskly given, has no suspicion of the thing not 
being understood; the other, that it prevents the child 
from thinking on the subject, partly because his attention 
is, of course, directed to the right substitution of the para- 
phrase for the respective parts of the text, and partly, 
because he shares in the teacher's delusion that, by learning 
one word for another, he has acquired knowledge, an error of 
the most pernicious character on a subject, on which man 
naturally "hateth the light." 

The dropping and substituting of phrases is, however, not 
the only means by which Mr. Gall " takes care" that the 
child should " thoroughly understand" that most difl'icult 
of all subjects, the knowledge of the human heart, and of 
the means divinely appointed for its restoration. There is 
a set of questions prepared, corresponding with the above 
sections ; the ciphers at the end of them, pointing to the 
particular section intended to form the answer, for the 



QUESTIONS FOR DEADENING THE MIND. 275 

greater security, it seems, of the teacher, for *' the impo- 
licy" of such an easy reference for the pupils has been 
judiciously avoided. The folloAvdng are the questions to 
be asked : 

"What is effectual calling said to be? (2) 

" Whose work is effectual calling ? (3) 

" Of what does the Spirit convince us in effectual call- 

ing.P(6,7) 

*' Who convinces us of sin in effectual calling ? (3) 

" Of what does the Spirit convince us, besides sin ? (7) 
" What is done to the mind in effectual calling ? (8) 
" In what is the mind enlightened in effectual call- 
ing.?(10,ll) 

" What is enlightened in effectual calling .'*''"' (9) 
and so forth : 

Now, it is very true, as I said before, Mr. Gall does 
not permit the children to use the ciphers for reference. 
But this is not the point. We must ask : Is any of the 
above questions calculated to direct the child's attention 
to what is, or has been, passing in his own heart ? or, 
are they calculated to make the child look into the 
book, to see what word it must pick out for the 
answer ? Into the book, unquestionably, the children 
will all look ; and whoever cannot see, that this is the 
direct road to dead knowledge, had better go and bury his 
dead ; he is not made to be a fisher of men, nor a teacher 
of little children. 

Nowhere, however, is the spiritual blindness of Mr. 
Gall, and, with him, of the generality of religious teachers, 
more evident, than in what he says on the important 
subject of prayer, which he introduces in the following 
manner: " Children must be induced to pray, — nay, 
" even commanded to pray. Some will doubt the pro- 
" priety, perhaps the lawfulness, of doing so. We cannot 
" here stop to discuss the subject ; but, referring to the 
" ' Elements and Practice of Prayer,' where this point is 
" examined and settled, we will here take it for granted, 

T 2 



276 CONVERSION HEALTHY OR SICKLY. 

" what few, it is hoped, will dispute, that children, even 
" before conversion, should pray, and, therefore, that they 
" ought to be taught to pray." 

Conversion being here introduced as a turning point, on 
which the question is made to hinge, by the adversaries of 
the above doctrine, it may be proper to say a few words on 
this subject, which has so often been misunderstood. By 
conversion, is generally meant a sudden change of the 
whole train of thoughts and feelings of an individual, in 
consequence of his becoming internally convinced of the 
truths of Christianity. As regards persons, who have not 
had the benefit of a truly Christian education, — and how 
many have not ! — this representation is no doubt correct, as 
being the general experience of those who have seriously 
embraced Christianity. But when the conversion of chil- 
dren is spoken of, the matter requires a farther explana- 
tion. The general opinion, no doubt, is, that all children 
live without God, until the time, when grace is imparted to 
them ; and the time, when they begin to live with God, 
quickened by his life, and enlightened by his light, is 
termed their conversion. I have, in a previous lecture, 
fully entered upon the question, whether or not the decla- 
ration of St. John, concerning the everlasting Word, being 
" the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world,"" is to be literally understood. On the ground of the 
conclusion we then arrived at, I have to add here, that 
regeneration, which is compared by our Saviour himself 
to the natural birth, is, like this, either healthy or sickly. 
The conversion of persons, who have gone on for years in 
wicked courses, and are suddenly startled, and induced to 
abandon them, and to walk in the path of light, is to be 
compared to the critical birth of a sickly child from a 
sickly mother. Of that regeneration, which is like the 
birth of a healthy child from a healthy mother, we have, 
I fear, not had many examples ; as it presupposes a course 
of education, conducted, from the first moment, on purely 
Christian principles, by faith in the indwelling of " the 



THE CHILD NEVER WITHOUT GOD. 277 

everlasting Word ;"' such an education, as would render it 
possible for the beginning of regeneration to be merged in 
the remote period of unconsciousness, after which, a gra- 
dual increase of the divine life, as received in the 
soul, and identified with it, would certainly be per- 
ceptible, but no distinct period could be pointed out, 
at which this had begun. That such a gradual regenera- 
tion, beginning at the earliest dawn of intellectual and 
moral life, previously to the consolidation of the evil nature 
by corrupt practices and habits, is in itself possible, is as 
certain, as it is, that our Saviour declared the peculiar 
fitness of little children for the Kingdom of Heaven ; 
though, on the other hand, it must be admitted, that, as 
matters stand at present, most children have tasted of the 
bitter fruit of sin by their own experience, before any 
religious impression is made vipon them. Still, even with 
them, it should not be forgotten, that, although the crea- 
ture by self-will has had time to grow up in a state of 
alienation from God, yet the child is not, on that account, 
quite destitute of internal assistance from the Source of 
Mercy and Grace. Upon this, then, we ought to build, 
and for those, who have faith in its existence in the child, 
I think it both consistent and obligatory, that they should 
acquaint children with prayer, that is to say, with the 
possibility of addressing their heavenly Father, and that 
they should even remind them of their duty to him, in 
case the children should forget it. But to invite, induce, 
or command them to pray, is, in my opinion, a gross 
breach of that reverence, which we ought to entertain for 
the privilege, granted to the finite creature, of holding com- 
munion of heart with the Invisible. This is so important, 
that, whenever it is necessary to remind a child of prayer, 
he should not, at the time, be permitted to pray, even 
though willing to do so, because the sacrifices of a forget- 
ful heart cannot be acceptable before God. Would an 
affectionate parent be pleased with his child wishing him 
" good morning,"" because invited, induced, nay, com_ 



278 PROFANENESS OF UNMEANIiJG PRAYER. 

manded to do so ? Would he not rather wait until the 
child's own feelings suggested it ? And if the thoughtless- 
ness of the child should render it necessary to remind him, 
would he ever be able to value it, when said in conse- 
quence of an admonition ? It is strange, but true, that 
on the subject of prayer, as on all others, our religious 
teachers are so absorbed in the effort, to win the appro- 
bation of the religious world, that they forget the regard 
due to God, who is, or ought to be, addressed in prayer. 
The general wordiness of this day's religion has entailed 
upon us, among other evils, a fearful abuse of prayer ; and, 
in deference to the prevailing opinions, children are made 
to pray, though their prayers be both unwilling and un- 
meaning. Now, if the regard due to the Supreme Being 
were consulted in this matter, it would, at once, be evi- 
dent, that the Almighty cannot be pleased with words, 
Avhich have no support, either in head or heart ; it would 
be recollected, that he rejects " vain oblations."" How, 
then, can it be the teacher's duty, to compel the child to 
bring them, and thus take the name of God and his Christ in 
vain ? Upon whom is the responsibility of this sin to 
fall ? — upon the children, who know not what they do, or 
upon the teachers, who have means of knowing it, but 
have more regard to the opinions of men, than to the will 
of God ? 

The vanity and sinfulness of unwilling and unmeaning 
prayer is, I know it, abstractedly admitted ; even Mr. 
Gall expresses himself, on this subject, in a manner, in which 
I fully concur. " Prayer,"" he says, " is and must be purely 
" an intellectual and spiritual exercise ; an expression of 
'• desire, or, if that be wanting, an expression of 
" regret and humility for the want of desire ; and every 
" substitute for this mental and spiritual approach to 
" God, in the matter of prayer, is but a name, a mere 
*' delusion ; an insult to the great searcher of 
" hearts, to whom we thus ' draw nigh with the lips, 
" while the heart' and the mind have been wholly un- 



PRAYER BY COMPULSION. 279 

" concerned. But when we begin to investigate the 
" matter, as appearing in practice, what do we find ? 
" Children are taught to approach the awful majesty of 
" heaven and earth, without one desire, one request, one 
" expression of feeling, or, indeed, without an intellec- 
" tual exercise of any kind, from the beginning to the 
" end of what are most unwisely and untruly called 
" THEIR PRAYERS. They repeat their little forms of 
" words, upon their knees, with much decorum, and per- 
" haps with mush seeming reverence ; but they know 
" not what they say. The mind, the rational and im- 
" mortal part of the child, has no share in the exercise. 
" The parent knows this, and knows that the child per- 
" ceives it to be so, and yet he tells his little one, that 
" this is prayer. Nay, some have even carried the ab- 
" surdity to its utmost limit, and we have actually seen 
" children on their knees, repeating, by mere rote, psalms 
" and hymns, as substitutes for even the form of a prayer, 
" How low must the opinion of the spirituality or om- 
" niscience of God soon become, even to a child, when he 
" is thus taught, that his worship consists in external 
" form and sound, without the mind or the heart taking 
" any part in it ! It is indeed a contrast, even to the 
" prayer of the heathen. With them, there is the living 
" form of devotion presented to a dead idol ; while 
" here, there is a dead and senseless form, offered as 
" devotion to the living God.'''' 

Of a man who thus clearly apprehends the depth of 
the evil, and its aAvful consequences, we expect, that he 
will not permit children to pray, except when both their 
hearts and minds are concerned in the exercise. And yet 
he will have children invited, induced, nay commanded, to 
pray, even before conversion, that is to say, at a time 
when, according to his doctrine, it is utterly impossible 
for the child, to make " a spiritual approach to God," 
What inconsistency ! what blindness ! 

But, bad as this is, it is not the worst. We read far- 



280 SECEET AND SOCIAL PRAYER, ' 

ther in his book : " Secret prayer, they" (many good 
and pious Christians) " have cultivated, and do cultivate ; 
" but social prayer is, what many of them have never 
" yet been able to engage in, with ease or comfort to 
" themselves, or with improvement to others. Their 
" physical (! !) nature, they seem to think, cannot now 
" overcome this backwardness; and the consequence is, 
" the frequent or constant neglect of family worship, the 
" want of much comfort and enjoyment in Christian 
" fellowship, with leanness of soul, a wounded conscience, 
' ' and a doubting mind." 

Our Lord and Saviour says : " When thou prayest, 
" thou shalt not he as the hypocrites axe ; for they love 
" to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners 
" of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily 
" I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, 
" when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when 
" thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is 
" in secret ; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall 
" reward thee openly." 

What is here recommended, secret or social prayer ? 
But Mr. Gall, as the mouthpiece of the religious world, 
says, " Secret prayer has for its reward, leanness of soul, 
a wounded conscience, and a doubting mind," unless there 
be added unto it, " social prayer," that is to say, prayer 
" in the synagogues, in the corners of the streets, at vestry 
meetings, and in evangelical drawing-rooms." The open 
reward, which the Lord promised to secret prayer, is not 
able to compete, in the estimation of these men, with the 
" ease, and comfort, and enjoyment," of what they term ' 
" their Christian fellowship." Verily " it must needs be, 
that offences come !" 

Often have I been shocked, when, in a drawing-room, 
fitted up with all the luxuries of the world, where every 
thing bespeaks the Mammon-service of the master, and the 
vanity of the mistress, after a long gossip, during which, 
not levity, nor even lawful mirth, but hypocritical conceit. 



" llELIGIOUS OPPORTUNITIES." 281 

malice, slander, and all uncharitableness were indulged, — 
to close the profane scene worthily, — the Bible was brought 
in, and, after the perusal of the chapter, the master called 
upon one of the company to engage in that fashionable 
effusion of words, called social prayer, in which all the 
topics of religion are collected together in elegant phrases, 
to illustrate, both the spirituality of the offering priest of 
pharisaism, and the acknowledged sanctity of all that join 
him. What prayer can a Christian, under these circum- 
stances, offer to the Searcher of hearts, than that he may 
have mercy on the blindness of those who imagine, that 
these are the things which he requireth at their hands ; 
who do not perceive the depth of their delusion, by which 
their religion has become the means of gratifying their 
ambition and vanity ? There are cases, no doubt, in which 
the common prayer of a number of Christians, assembled 
together, aside from the assemblies expressly gathered 
for worship, will be both acceptable before the tlirone of 
God, and elevating, enlightening, and improving, to them- 
selves ; but these cases are not so common as " the reli- 
gious opportunities" of the evangelical world, and they are 
so much more soul-stirring than these, that they require not 
a long training, to be prepared for the performance of so 
simple a duty, as the adoration of the All-adorable. 

The necessity of such a preparation begins to be more 
felt, as vanity and dryness of heart are increasing 
among our pharisaical professors ; and the art of making 
such prayers acceptable to the audience, to whom they are, 
in reality, addressed, but abominable, in the sight of Him, 
to whom they purport to be directed, has, at length, been 
reduced into a system. I must beg here, that you will 
recollect the " separating and proving of doctrines," and 
you will be able to follow Mr. Gall in what he says con- 
cerning this matter. 

" The following, then, is a specimen, how children may 
" be taught to turn the answers of the ' First Initiatory 
" Catechism'' into prayer, to which we would particularly 



282 PRAYING MADE EASY. 

" call the attention of parents and teachers, and, by com- 
" paring them with the answers in that Catechism, which 
" are referred to by the figures, they will find that the 
" words remain in nearly the same order as in the Cate- 
" chismy 

The prayer itself runs thus : 

" O Lord (1) thou who didst at first make all things of 
" nothing, (3) hast made me also, that I might serve thee 
*' always. But, I confess"*' (not from the heart, but from 
" the catechism) " that (7) I sin against thee, and break 
" thy laws every day, and (8) because of sin, I deserve 
" hell and thine anger for ever. (10) I am dead in sin, 
" and cannot save myself. (11) Sorrow for sin will not 
" satisfy thy justice, and therefore cannot save me ; and 
" (12) my best works are mixed with sin, and deserve 
" punishment," &c. &c. 

Who should have thought, that such means for teaching 
little children to pray to their Father in heaven, would 
ever be wanted, or could ever be devised, by the disciples 
of him, who spake thus ? — 

" But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the 
*' heathen do : for they think that they shall be heard for 
" their much speaking. Be not ye, therefore, like unto 
" them : for your Father knoweth, what things ye have 
" need of, before ye ask him. After this manner, there- 
*' fore, pray ye : " Our Father which art in heaven. Hal- 
*' lowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be 
*' done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our 
*' daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive 
*' our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but 
*' deliver us from evil: for thine is the Kingdom, and the 
*' Power, and the Glory, for ever. Amen." 

" After this manner pray ye," saith the Lord our God. 

Leanness of soul, a wounded conscience, and a doubting 
mind will befall you, says Mr. Gall, and, with him, the 
religious world, if ye pray after this manner merely. After 
that other manner, therefore, pray ye, which we have devised 



COMPLETE DOCTRINAL PRAYERS. 283 

for you. " The ' First Initiatory Catechism,' amongst its 
*' other useful properties for children, embraces this one 
*' also, that almost every answer, which a child repeats, 
" may, by a slight alteration of the language^ he made a 
" part of prayer ; and the whole indeed, taken consecu- 
" lively, forms what might he called a complete doc- 

" TRINAL PRAYER." 

Doth your Father which is in heaven not know, what 
doctrines you hold, before ye tell him ? O ye hypocrites ! 

A complete doctrinal prayer ! ! This is the climax 
of modern Pharisaism. Be ye not lowly in heart, no, be 
ye dogmatical in your prayers ! Whose commandment is 
this ? The Lord's ? If not his, whose then ? And who, 
but He, dare give commandments concerning prayer ? 
But by the traditions of the elders, they have made the 
word of the Lord Jesus Christ of none effect ! The prayers 
that are offered in these days, are no longer the prayers of 
humble hearts and contrite spirits ; they are the prayers 
of a high-minded and presumptuous generation. 

In the times of old, " the Pharisee stood and prayed 
" thus with himself: God, I thank thee, that I am not as 
" other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even 
" as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes 
" of all that I possess." 

In our days, a " respectable" evening party of Pharisees 
kneel together, and pray thus among themselves : " God, 
we thank thee, that we believe not as other men do. Infi- 
dels, Deists, Catholics, or even as these Socinians. We 
adhere to the orthodox faith, and sit consistently under 
our respective ministers ; and whenever we meet, we pour 
out our doctrinal petitions before thee." 

This is, in fact, the scope of those heathenish prayers ; 
to establish the self-righteousness of those that offer them, 
by the orthodoxy of their creed. And happy still, if these 
prayers were but confined to private meetings ; but the 
Christian is offended by them in the temples of the Lord, 
in places of public worship. So great is the power of 



284 CONTRITION AND DOGMATISM. 

public opinion, and, in many instances, the consideration of 
interest, over the ministers of the gospel, in our days, that 
they are enslaved by a practice of long doctrinal praying, 
of the vanity and profaneness of which it is impossible 
they should have no suspicion. For what can be plainer 
than the words of our Lord : " Be not ye therefoi'e like 
unto them f These long and doctrinal prayers will be 
the means of clearing the places of public worship more 
and more of true and spiritual Christians ; and converting 
them thus into dens of mere nominal professors, the 
" thieves'" of the word. I can perfectly well endure to 
listen to a sermon, which throughout falls short of, or even 
is opposed to, what I have been taught by the spirit of 
God, to be his truth ; but, when I am called upon to join 
in a prayer, made up of the same crude, erroneous, or 
limited notions, being a confession of faith, rather than a 
humbling of the soul before God, then " the offence"" begins. 
I may, in my own mind, contradict every word of what 
the preacher states to be his view of the subject ; but when 
I am to pray, I cannot pray in contradiction to what is 
publicly offered up as prayer ; I cannot join in the prayer, 
and I do not wish to affect prayer, when my heart knows 
nothing of it. This is a situation, in which no Christian 
minister ought to place his hearers ; nor will he ever be in 
danger of so doing, if he forget all dogmatism, as he natu- 
rally will, if his own heart be humbled, and pray after the 
manner enjoined by our divine Lord and Master. 

One word more concerning Mr. Gall's method. We 
have seen how little it is calculated to bring the reali- 
ties of religion home to the child's feeling and under- 
standing ; and it seems obvious, that the remembering 
of the words of the catechism, even if they were under- 
stood, and the turning of them into the prayer form, 
cannot be the way of kindling in children ' the spirit of 
prayer.' " A slight alteration of the language" may 
change the form of the words ; but, for all this, the heart 
and the mind remain unaltered. Nothing can be more 



GALL VERSUS GALL. 285 

applicable to this proposed mode of initiating children in 
the communion with the Lord on High, than Mr. Gall's 
own words, which I have before quoted : — " Prayer is, 
" and must be, purely an intellectual and spiritual exercise," 
" — therefore not a mechanical altering and stifling together 
of sentences learnt by rote — " an expression of desire''' — not 
of doctrine — " and if that be wanting, an expression of 
a regret and humility for the want of desire ; and every suh- 
" stitiite for this mental and spiritual approach to God in the 
" matter of prayer"" — and as much as any other substitute, 
an inverted catechism — ^'^\% but a name, a delusion, an 
" insult to the great Searcher of Hearts, to whom we thus 
" draw nigh with the lips, while the heart and the mind 
" have been wholly,'' " — or, as the transmutation of the sen- 
tence from the form of assertion into that of request, might, 
by some, be called a mental operation — almost wholly " un- 
^'- concerned. But when we begin to investigate the matter, 
" as appearing in practice, what do we find ? Children are 
" taught to approach the awful Majesty of Heaven and 
"" Earth," — without one thought or one feeling that had its 
birth within their own bosoms, — " from the beginning to 
the end of these mechanical compilations from the catechism, 
which " are most unwisely and untruly called their prayers.''"' 
They connect the dead doctrines which they have learnt 
with much facility, and perhaps with much seeming intel- 
ligence ; " but they know not,'*'' and mt^ch less do they 
feel, " what they say. The mind, the rational and 
" immortal part of the child, has no share in the exer- 
" cise," as an act of adoration, though the compilation 
be its work. Mr. Gall and his followers might know 
this, though they seem not to know it ; and they might 
know likewise, that the child can, when taught after their 
manner, never perceive what prayer is ; because they tell 
their little ones that a compilation from the catechism " is 
prayer.'''' Nay they " have even carried the absurdity, 
" and the profanation to its utmost limit," as I have been 
credibly informed by a Sunday School Teacher, who has 



286 EDUCATE IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. 

" actually seen children, on their knees repeating," by 
order, and in presence of Mr. Gall, compilations of the 
catechism, as an exhihitioti of these their doctrinal 
prayers, before the assembled public, at an examination 
of a Sunday School conducted on his plan. " How low 
'*' must the opinion of the spirituality or omniscience 
" of God soon become, even to a child, when he is thus 
" taught, that his worship consists in external form 
" and sound, without the mind or the heart taking any 
" part in it /" And how can reverence for the Divine 
Being be cherished in his bosom, when he is thus taught 
to make that, which ought ever to remain sacred between 
God and his creatures, the object of a public exhibition ! 
" It is indeed a contrast," and in some respects a parallel, 
" even to the prayers of the heathen," to which our Lord 
himself has assimilated such prayers. 

Christian parents ! Christian friends of the rising gene- 
ration ! I have, fearless of the obloquy, which I shall 
bring upon me, exposed before you that system of Pha- 
risaism and hypocrisy, in which these little ones, whom 
we have in trust from the Lord Jesus Christ, are in danger 
of being ensnared. Consider it in your own hearts ! 

" God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him, must wor- 
ship him in Spirit and in Truth." Your children will not 
be able to worship him in Spirit and in Truth, unless you 
make him known unto them as a living Spirit, whose taber- 
nacles are the hearts of men ; unless you communicate to them 
his revelation, according to the truth, free from the additions 
and private interpretations of men, and in a perfect faith 
and reliance upon the living light of Truth, shining in 
the darkness of the child's heart ; which, if it be appre- 
hended and submitted to by him, will be a source of 
every grace from above, to the leading of his mind " into 
all Truth." There have been long and dull times, when 
every man taught "his neighbour, and every man his 
brother, saying : know the Lord." These times are 
drawing to a close ; the time is approaching, when " all 



PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD. 287 

shall know him, from the least to the greatest ;" — " prepare 
ye, therefore, the way of the Lord, make his path 
straight." In bringing up your children, do not presume 
to be teachers yourselves, but minister unto the living 
word of Truth in their hearts, that it may be fulfilled of 
them what the prophet says : " All thy children shall be 
taught of the Lord." 



THE END. 



LONDON : 
SHA.CKELL AND BAYLIS, JOHNSON's-COURT, FLEET- STREET. 



Works en Education, by the same Author 



THE CHRISTIAN MONITOR AND FAMILY FRIEND 



COItTAINS ; 



DR. BIBER'S LECTURES ON EDUCATION, 

Delivered in Spring 1828. 

Giving an account of the manner, in which the principles, advo- 
cated in the present Volume, may be brought to bear upon the 
different departments of Education ; — together with Model Les- 
sons, AND OTHER AIDS TO PARENTS AND TeACHERS, UpOD the 

plan recommended in the Lectures. 

To be had of Messrs. Darton and Harvey, Gracechurch-street ; 
Mr. William Darton, Holborn Hill ; Mr. Effingham Wilson, Royal 
Exchange ; Mr. T. Souter, St. Paul's Church Yard ; and Messrs. 
KoUer and Cahlmann, Soho Square. Price 4s. 6d. 



To be published shortly. 
By T. SouTER, St. PauVs Church Yard, 

A Translation of Pestalozzi's Work : 
*« HOW GERTRUDE TEACHES HER LITTLE ONES ;" 

Being an historical account of the first experiments of that cele- 
brated philanthropist, at Stanz, Burgdorf, and Yverdon ; and 
of the successive development of his method of education. Besides 
the Translation of the Work above named, the Volume will conltin 
a Memoir of Pestalozzi, and copious Notes, illustrative of the 
History of Pestalozzi's undertaking, and the practical part of 
his method, from the pen of Dr. Biber. 



^^ 









«i. « 






d d 

■-.CSd 
. ■<Sd' 

. cc 
: «^c 



- d d. c< 
^ S^ <I- cc 

^ ^ d^ <x 

^ 51 d • cc 

^^ 5: < cc 



^cc cc '^ 

, ^:xc_cc '^-< 

s=i^C C<1 . 

jj; c cc c 

^dc c c< .. 
' Cjcccc c 



^ < ■■ <:3 c c«c 
c' X ? <ic-c ccr 
C'<Cv CTree 
ctcv; ;cc:ccd 

C-CC. dcoc 
c c< cxcoc 

C:C«L. dCd 

cicd did 

c<'C<. dccc 
<i^c-c 'Clicc 



■« < d \c c 

^ '«:^. d" cd (?" 

CC ' <sz <^: jfz < 

cc cd C^ d' c 

< «d: c d ^ 
c <x 

'T cc 

^ :! \M 



5P C ^ 



•^ ^ :S^ c^ 



cc: 
Cd 
C-C 

c c 
C d 

ii. 



c CC: c;^c 

c C «C. <^' ^^ 



d Cc^ 

. cc 



d<c 

dc ^ 



d«:c c 

cTs cc 



^ic C d 

d: < c -^ 

Tec 

X CC 



d^^ 

dc cr-^ 

S^'- eg: d^ d 

iCcc nr ^ >~ 



^ .CC d/^ 
„ cc C3< 



^ cc 
L. ^C ^ICC 

._ cc «£:: c c 

^ _ cc -^' 

S-'"^ ^ cc ^ v^v. 

-^ C^ ^ ^c <s c c 

^^x c^cc d c c 

^ 'C. cr c <:' 

C^C ^Z^c CC' c-c 

cc d'^ e. cc 

>.CC dK <S-C' C' 
: <:c cc.<c c: >■ - 
<d- .d« 'c^ ^ 1 
_. CC. <<< a 



c-d-c 


dC 


c^ d^:: 


cc 


Cj' CIV. 


cc 


d c:< 


CC 


d' <:::e 


cc 


d^ dS: 


c^c 


dt<c:^ 


cc 


<3< d'X 


cc 


dccc;j«; 


cc 


d:.c d3 


cc 


dec <:: : 


:. cc 


d':c<::: 


I cc 


<3Cd^ 


cc: 


d_^cc d: 


V cc 


<r:cc <i. 


:: cc 



■ cc cr 
cc a: 



cCd « 
. . crc . 

■ ccd 

c'- c: < 

c^ < 

ec« 
cc.< 

<[-d 

crc:: ,, 

cc C^ 

CC d: 

cc dl 

CCc CZ - 
Ccd 

.,. cccd 

<C cc 

a CC < 
<S cc 
<X C< 'iv^ 

CC c «: 
<2: c c <I 

<x: cc fld 
a: cc ^ 

cc Cc «I 

cc cc 



dc^ 

dc: 
dec 
dc<^^ 

<:i.cd 

dcd 

. c:cc^ 

dcd 
Cd 

C d 



' cc: Cd CC ^ 

^ CC cd c c ^ _ 

d c <d c c d cc d 
d c <d c c d^ cc d < 

cTc or CC «:;cc crc 
Cc d: c^ c#. d c «ic < 

d:c «:: d ^ <l <i c( <r . c 

Cc d d'c: do d < 

d c d d . dC d cc «: c 



Z cc 
cc 

cc 

IT C c 

€ <S^ • 

I cc 

dT cc 

' cc « 

' cc < 

1 cc «: 
: cc d ' 
d: cc d^ < 
<: cc -d c 

d' cc d' c 

:cc crc 



<: c «: 
Cc d 



c dc d. C' C. 'dec <i 
c- dQ <:: ■ d d: «rc< «:: 

^ CC d d^c: d^' cr 

d c::cd d d: . dc d 
d^ - cc c d: d : dc d 

_. c-.' d <l < .<r': <:-<( d- 

«d C' d d ^i^dcd 
^c^ c d <i <::\:c:o d 



<C ^ CO 



<: <: «z 

— - — «: 



<z 4C2: <^ <5^ S % 









•T* o c: -^«c:: cc; 



<::c c -<z: ecu 






- <r c c? cc 

ICC Cc <C 

JCC <c CC 



CCC 

•to C 

•<X'C • 

CCC 
<< <: 



^c-^ 



^^^^ < 



; c-c - 

. c c 
: d c 
^T c^ c 

d' C C -<^r, 

<r c c <r c 
r c <r 
c: c 
c c 



<^c^ 



~;cc«^ 

<S:c<^ 

<CC4C" 

CJCd 



cc 

3 c«r cso 
Tc<c <rc< 






CSCC ■ 
' C£ C< 

ccc< 



C <L 

C <Z 
c <1 
C <Z 

c «:: 
c *c: 
c: <: 
c: <: 

<r <: 

d-d 

8?^ 



CICC^ <CCiC< 

crcd':* c-cc<::. 



C C cc 

c: c c 
c: C/C-. 

CI C^O' 
CL C <3 

r CC 
<i: CC 

<L cc 

«^ C C 

c: c c 

r c c 

^ ^^ < 
S- '- - ■« 

C7 C c « 



■r Cc < <c 

.c:cc<: 
ccc<: 
ccc:<n 
<: cc<^ 

■ cc < d 

ecc<^ 

<z c c <:: 

CCC <L 

dec <^ 
<i c c <z: 

c c c <Z 

r c c --^ 



Ccecc <c 

cccc cc 
,rsc cc 

<X'ccC cc 

<2coCc' C^c 

<^_^' • •< «". 
<sc<sr - <c: c 

c:cc c<<:^«- 

■ decs.; ' *tXS<i; 
<SCC • C.^CltSCCa- 

CsC ■ -wcc^^ 

dC ' ■»<C''<&: 

dc ■■ tdc^^c 

cc ..;-eaCccc 

cc: *<c:cc 
<ac • -^icxcc *r 

cc ^aCc cc 

cc -^atrc c c 

■cc s^<3.CC 

cc '^it^cc 
cc ^^ic3 ci<z. 
cc ^>*c:r<:c: 
cc sMiCC c c: 
CC tiCIjCd c 

" cc '«»«ijc:<cc 
: cc *«crc:"C'c 



dec -C^ CC^^CClddClc 
d C C «^ C i*«^C d cC'V 
dec ^Z c .^dd d C * 



^ ' ^ dd 



Clc; 5 
d_ <l: < 
^ c_ d ^ 

1 d d c •■ « 

dl d d ^ 

<:: c d c: 

^ 'L «CC 



<=Cr d d C 

» c<^^ 

$: *^ ^ *i 



^ dc c 

«C d C 

^ d c 

<r c c 

CC c c 

<c c c 



d c c ^d c <:z<: <:<c^ 

dec «^ c <:i:jc d c 
-- d d <^cc «:rd <r c ^ 
- c d ^o^ --d-d <r c c 

_ d7 <: <x<. « 
^^ dl div <r cr^cc- 
.- ^<Z <<Z c C: 

-^ d d d: . OC^ . . :: , 

.dd^ ^. , . 



